Willow the Gargoyle
by Jonakhensu
Summary: Willow decided to dress as a confident business woman for Halloween. Unfortunately, her costume was too similar to Dominique Destine. Now she must deal with the consequences.
1. Halloween

Willow the Gargoyle

By Jonakhensu

Disclaimer (You're not getting one every chapter, so pay attention) I do not own Gargoyles nor Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I am making no money off of this. Frankly, not even the plot is really mine. While I had the idea for a Gargoyle!Willow fic at least several hours before reading it, Willow Destine by Wispr was a major inspiration in this fic. I have gotten Wispr's permission to use his description and name for Willow. The descriptions greatly influenced mine, but are not exactly the same. Thanks go to deitarion/SSokolow for acting as my beta reader along with those I hashed ideas out with.

* * *

"Come on, Willow," Buffy urged, holding up an outfit from the rack. She had already found her costume, a Victorian gown, and was now helping her best female friend find her own costume. "This is Halloween! Halloween is the night that not you is you, but not you, you know?" 

"B-but I can't wear something like that!" the redhead protested.

"Come on," the blonde Slayer pushed. "You're always so shy. This is your chance to be sexy."

"I-I can't. Xander stole all of my sheets!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Buffy asked.

"I can't fall back on being a ghost without a sheet! It's just not done. You can't have a sheetless ghost! And, and if I try to wear something like that, I'll panic and need to get a different costume and."

The Willow-babble was brought to the close when a man, with a noticeable British accent inquired, "Can I help you?" The two girls turned in surprise, having not noticed the man earlier.

"I'm trying to help my Willow-shaped friend find a costume," Buffy explained. "But she doesn't like my ideas."

"I see," the man commented. "I couldn't help but over hear your discussion. If sexy is not what you want, you could always go for confidence instead." After a pause, the man added, "Oh, I'm sorry; I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ethan Rayne, the owner of this fine establishment. It is my goal to give my customers the best costumes I can."

"That's a great idea!" Willow exclaimed. "Lead on to the confidence section!" she declared, with a finger raised.

Smiling, Ethan led the two girls towards a particular section of the store. He had already learned that both girls were well acquainted with one Rupert Giles, and he was going to make sure their Halloween was extra special this year. Stopping in front of some business attire, the Chaos mage chose a red suit and held it up. "Yes, I do believe this matches your hair rather nicely, don't you agree?"

"It does look nice, Willow admitted. "I think I'll take it." Looking around, she continued, "Now I just need some accessories." She quickly found a briefcase and some realistic looking paperwork. Had anyone been paying attention, the words 'Nightstone Unlimited' would have been visible on each of the pages. An odd coincidence that not even Ethan Rayne himself had manufactured.

Her selection made, Willow handed her new costume to the friendly Mr. Rayne to be rung up. He retreated to the back room for a few moments before returning the costume to its new owner. As the two girls left his store, he smiled evilly. True, he had already spelled the gown, so the effects from it would fade quickly, but the amount of magic he had poured into that toy gun he sold earlier and into each and every part of the redhead's costume would insure that some remnants of the night would remain with the pair forever.

* * *

As the wave of magic finished washing over her, Dominique Destine looked around in confusion. "Why am I human again?" she asked her self, right as the last rays of the sun slipped past the Californian horizon. With a scream of untold agony, the woman hunched over, coming as close to a fetal position as possible while remaining on one's feet. He screams escalated as bones snapped, changed shape, and knitted back together. The suit she had been wearing tore to shreds as wings and a tail sprouted from her back. A mere minute after the pain had started, it stopped, leaving behind a dull, throbbing ache. "That's not right," the blue gargoyle groaned between her gasps for breath. "It's never been that painful before." Finally looking at her surroundings, Demona realized something horribly important. She was no longer in Manhattan, let alone her own house. Instead she was in a suburb, surrounded by short creatures the likes of which she had never seen before. 

As a possible explanation occurred to her, she stumbled to a nearby car and tore off a side view mirror. She looked into the mirror, then the mirror fell from her suddenly lifeless fingers. The face that had looked back at her from the mirror was not her own. It was similar, to be sure. The blue skin tone was correct, and someone who knew her well enough could recognize her, but that face was not her own; if nothing else, it was several years younger than hers should have appeared. This revelation, added to her still aching body, led her to a terrifying conclusion. This was not her body, and this body was not immortal. The only reason she was still conscious after her transformation was her high pain threshold. A thousand years of suffering did wonders to a person's ability to withstand pain, apparently. However, this was not the time for idle contemplation. "If this body is mortal," Demona thought aloud, "will I die if it dies, leaving but a husk behind where I should be?" As a gun went off in the distance, she decided. "It's too risky to find out the hard way. I need to find some place secure to wait this out and cast a few protection spells."

Her plan decided, Demona made her way to a house that had no lights on and no car in the driveway, following a path she was not consciously aware of. Something in the back of her ming recognized the house, causing her to open the briefcase she was still carrying despite herself. Inside the case she found a key, a normal house key. Looking from the key to the door, Demona shrugged before deciding to try to unlock the door. The key worked, proving to the gargoyle that her current body remembered how to get back to its own house. After shutting and relocking the door, Demona began searching the house, looking for magic supplies and any clue as to her body's identity. The house was unusually barren, without any of the pictures or knickknacks the average home would have on display. It had an almost un-lived in feel, until she made her way to one of the bedrooms.

Unlike every other room in the house, this room was obviously lived in, even if there were no sheets on the bed. "Odd," Demona commented to herself before dismissing the thought as unimportant. One of the pictures on the nightstand showed a girl with red hair and a face similar to her current one, a brown haired boy, and a blond girl, sharing a hug. Another held only the picture of a boy. As Demona held the picture, a tear came to her eye, and she whispered, "Jessie," while not understanding where the emotion had come from, let alone the name. A quick search turned up her body's purse, including her identification. "So, this body is Willow Rosenberg, and we are presumably in a Sunnydale, California," the gargoyle noted, looking at the Sunnydale High School ID card.

Another few minutes of searching turned up a collection of herbs that could only have one purpose. "Perfect. These are just what I need to cast that protection spell, then I might as well wait out whatever caused this. I can't risk getting killed in this body." Her mind made up, Demona prepared the spell, casting the strongest defensive spell she could without access to the Grimorum Arcanorum or another advanced spell book. Wearied by the unexpectedly large drain on her, or rather this body's, magic reserves, Demona settled onto the bed to catch her breath. She did not expect to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When the wave of magic released as the Janus bust was destroyed reached the Rosenberg residence, Willow, still exhausted, did not even twitch as she regained control of her body.

* * *

Demona snapped to attention as she found herself back in her body. Without considering why she was concerned with a mere human's health, the gargoyle made her way to her laboratory. Utilizing the degrading link formed by the magic that caused her to posses a girl across the country, Demona created a permanent scrying spell, anchored to the mirror in a handy compact. One look into the mirror almost made her drop the compact in shock. Lying on the bed was a gargoyle, not the human she had expected to see. Even more startling was that the gargoyle seemed to be shifting gradually, almost imperceptibly unless watched closely. 

"This is interesting," Demona mused. Shifting the focus of the spell off of Willow momentarily, she looked outside of the room, at the rest of the town. Gone were the little creatures that had chased those who had remained human. Gone were the bewildered looks in those dressed for far earlier eras. Everything appeared to be back to normal, except for Willow. "I think I'll watch her for a while, and see if she'll turn to stone by day. Depending on what happens next, I may just have a new pet project."

Four hours after she returned to a human form, Dominique was watching the still sleeping gargoyle, waiting for the sun to rise. She was almost giddy with anticipation, though she would never admit that to anyone, not even her daughter, Angela. Suddenly it began. Willow awoke with a jerk as the first rays of sun entered the open, east exposure window. Less than a second later, her back arched as she screamed in agony. A minute later, a human Willow lay in a fetal position, unconscious.

The protection spell surrounding the girl flared with a blinding intensity before fading into the girl, leaving her glowing for a few seconds before dissipating entirely. Dominique blinked back her shock and scratched her head. "Huh, that was unexpected," she commented. After a few moments, Willow woke again, sobbing in pain. A few minutes later, she stopped crying and got up, seemingly free of pain. Dominique could only cock an eyebrow and remark, "That spell was not supposed to do that. Especially not settle into the girl like that. It should be interesting to see if it has any long term effects, at least." As Willow headed into the bathroom to prepare for her day, starting with throwing up everything she'd eaten in the last week, followed by a long shower, Dominique closed the compact, allowing the girl some privacy.

* * *

Back in Sunnyhell, Willow was trying to deal with the onslaught of memories her possessor had left behind. The simple joy of gliding filled her, only to be replaced by the thousand years of pain, and betrayal Demona had experienced One of the most painful memories was also one of the most recent. Her daughter's abandonment hurt Demona far more than she could ever show. Luckily, the memories were quickly fading, leaving only impressions that were occasionally annoying, but not a hindrance. By the time Willow had finished her shower, most of her thoughts were sorted. Now she just needed to figure out what to tell the others 

"Damn it! I can't tell them that Dominique Destine is the gargoyle Demona," she grumped. "She'd kill all of us if I did that." Of this she was certain. The memories she had confirmed it. "It's a good thing today's Saturday. It'll give me a couple days to figure things out. Besides, Demona's probably watching me right now. Maybe I should email her and ask?" With something resembling a plan, Willow made her way to her computer and booted it up. She logged onto her email account and sat there for a few minutes before announcing, "You know, this would be much easier if I remembered what your email address is." A few minutes later, an email appeared.

_To: ScoobyRed(at)Sunnyhell(dot)net_

_From: DestineD(at)Nightstone(dot)com_

_Subject: Boo_

_Yes, I am watching you. Do not tell anyone about last night or about me, unless I have given you permission first. If you do, I will be forced to kill them, and we wouldn't want that, now would we? If I believe they can be trusted, I will allow you to tell your friends the truth, eventually._

_You should know that the spell from last night affected you differently than the others in town. When I looked in on you last night, you were still a gargoyle, so it is possible that you will become one again tonight. Until I know more about what happened, I cannot say anything more with any certainty._

_Always watching,_

_Demona_

"Alright, so she _is_ watching me. I guess I can deal with that." Willow's continued pondering was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Heading downstairs, Willow found Xander waiting at the door.

"Hey, Wills, are you alright?" he asked, his concern shining in his eyes. "I didn't see you at all last night."

"Um, I just sort of found my way back here and stayed inside," Willow explained. "So what did happen last night?"

"Well, it seems that this Ethan guy used Chaos magic to turn everyone into their costumes," Xander started. "I became a real soldier while Buffy became a helpless noblewomen. She was even scared of cars! Anyways, Giles eventually figured it out just in time to save Buffy from Spike."

"Isn't Halloween supposed to be a quiet night?" Willow asked.

"Sure, it's supposed to be," Xander scoffed. "But this is Sunnyhell; nothing ever goes right here. If Giles had taken any longer, we'd be a Slayer short right now!"

"Good thing Giles made it, then," Willow stated. Changing the subject, she asked, "So what are the plans for today?"

"Not much, really," Xander admitted. "Buffy's still getting over almost dieing, again, and I'm dealing with having been possessed, again."

"Hey, bright side," Willow started cheerfully, "you didn't eat anything you shouldn't have, right?"

Xander cracked a smile, agreeing, "Yeah, there is that. Can I come in? I thought we could watch the Charlie Brown Halloween special or something."

"Uh, right," Willow replied, stepping to the side to allow Xander's entry, but not inviting him in. "That sounds good."

"What? No invite?" Xander asked as he stepped over the threshold. "Your door is completely in the sun for pretty much the entire day."

"It's still a good habit to keep!" Willow insisted with mock indignation. "I wouldn't want to get eaten just because I forgot to not invite someone in."

"I'm just joking, Wills," Xander explained with equally faked placation. "Come on, let's go watch Charlie Brown." With that, the two teens began their indulgence of cartoons and Twinkies.

* * *

Finally, as it was approaching dusk, Willow turned off the television. After a good five hours of watching Charlie Brown and Scooby-Doo, it was time for Xander to be heading home. It would not be wise to be out once the sun had set, after all, especially as the boy had forgotten to bring a stake with him that day. After goodbyes were exchanged and Xander had left, Willow headed back upstairs to write back to Demona, having been interrupted earlier. She was surprised to find another email from the gargoyle already waiting for her.

_To: ScoobyRed(at)Sunnyhell(dot)net_

_From: DestineD(at)Nightstone(dot)com_

_Subject: URGENT_

_If you have finally finished your cartoons, and it is still before dusk, get something to bite down on. You will needed it if you want to do not want to be heard or bite through your lip. I suggest finding something now before it gets any later._

Willow, remembering the pain from that morning, hurried to get a towel out of the bathroom. Folding it into a thick wad, she left it ready to bite at a moments notice. Set for now, she continued reading.

_Your friend, Xander, told you that the spell last night was cast by a Chaos mage. This is going to make things far more complicated. One of the primary rules of magic is that you do NOT mix certain types of spells. Chaos magic should never be mixed with anything, even other Chaos magic. Actually, make that especially not Chaos magic._

_That said, there is one important detail I need to point out about myself. I already have two spells of Fey origin effecting me. At least one of these spells interacted directly with the Chaos magic, which is why you became a gargoyle last night. The Puck 'gifted' me with my twin forms, so I would never turn to stone. As we both found out last night, this spell carried over. The second Fey spell was cast by the Weird Sisters, making me immortal until Macbeth or I kill the other._

_I was not sure, nor am I sure, of how that spell reacted to my residence in your body, so I took what precautions I could. With the streets overrun with demons, and unsure of my current body, I made my way to your house and set up a protection spell. This was all very fine, until the transformation spell ended, and you stayed a gargoyle. This morning, you reverted back to your current form. I'm not sure what, exactly, happened, but the protection spell flared and sank into you. With all the other spells involved, I have no idea what the outcome of this will be. If you are particularly lucky, it may have created a permanent protective field around you, or something to that effect._

_Wishing you the best of luck; I'll be watching,_

_Demona_

Looking outside, Willow noticed that the sun was about to set. Acting quickly, she undressed, leaving just her underwear, and jammed the folded towel into her mouth just in time to stifle her initial scream as her body began to change, the pain being nearly too much to bear. Despite her attempts to remain standing throughout, one leg folded, dropping her into a kneeling posture. Her pinkies were absorbed into her ring fingers as her feet lengthened and changed, becoming better suited for the powerful leaps needed to begin gliding. Her back arched as an impressive set of wings, even by gargoyle standard, sprouted from her shoulders. As the wings stretched, the membrane covering the leading edge pulled back, revealing serrated blades that could more than likely cut into concrete. A tail grew from Willow's spine, ending in two spines that folded out and back, connected to the tail proper via modified wing membrane and supporting spines, producing yet another razor sharp blade. Giving off the primal bellow of a newly awakened gargoyle, Willow reared back, her eyes shining a brilliant red.

"That didn't hurt nearly as much as it did earlier," Willow mused. "Must have been that protection spell or something." Rooting around in her closet, the young gargoyle came across an old shirt that she had forgotten about years ago because it was far too large for her. A few tears and safety pins later, Willow had a makeshift dress. It was nothing pretty, or anything she would want to go out in, but it was better than just a bra and panties. "Might as well go see what I look like," she decided and made her way to the bathroom, the closest source of a mirror large enough to be of any use.

As she walked out of her room, her tail, which she had not gotten proper control over yet, scraped against the door, including the fan blade. When Willow felt the resistance of the flared blade on the door, she pulled harder without thinking about it. Thus, she inadvertently left a foot long gash in her wall, the drywall providing no more than that original resistance before giving way to the keen blade.

Willow took one look into the mirror before her jaw dropped from what she saw. Her jaw dropped even further as it unhinged, much like a snake's. While her skin was a rather fetching shade of blue, just like Demona's, she looked far more sinister than the older gargoyle ever had. For one, her eye ridges terminated in small, bony horns, instead of being covered in flesh like Demona's or Angela's were. Her mouth, still open past what should be physically possible, contained a set of chompers that would make even the most modest vamp green with fang envy. However, despite these differences, there were enough similar facial features similar to Demona's, not to mention the identical skin tone, to easily pass as Demona's daughter.

When the young gargoyle noticed her new smile, she involuntarily flinched back while instinctively flaring her wings. The bathroom lights glinted off the newly revealed blades once the covering flesh pulled back. The flash caught the girl' eye, finally bringing her attention to her new wings. They were larger, and far more powerful looking than Demona's memories told her were the norm. They even had an extra joint to allow them to fold properly, being much to large to fold the normal way. Carefully examining one of her wing blades, while staying safely away from the edge, Willow noticed that they were not shiny bone, like she had originally thought. They were, instead, a substance that looked distinctly metallic, though she could not identify it by sight alone. Picking up a paper cup from the sink, she gently pushed it against the revealed blade. Before she could even register any resistance, the bottom of the cup hit the floor, having been easily sliced off. Looking at the remains of the cup, Willow gulped and wisely decided to use something that was in no way valuable to test exactly how sharp her wing blades were.

Taking off her makeshift tunic, Willow proceeded to examine the rest of her body, looking for anything not normally a part of gargoyle physiology. After a short time of gentle probing, she discovered something decidedly odd. "Why do I have sub dermal plates?" she wondered aloud, having found what seemed to be cartilaginous plates protecting her vitals and most of her torso. Coming to the only possible conclusion, she groaned, "Great, I'm a Hellmouth gargoyle!" Taking another look at her assorted natural weapons and armor, she added, "At least it should make fighting vamps and demons easier. Especially if those blades are as sharp as I think they are."

* * *

Dominique could only gape dumbly at this new revelation. Finally, she found her voice, "Sunnydale is a Hellmouth?! Well, I suppose that does explain a few things." The currently human gargoyle continued her line of thinking. The Slayer was the only one who could consistently and effectively protect a place like Sunnydale and keep the Hellmouth closed. If the Hellmouth were to ever open, it would be just as bad for gargoyles as it would be for humans. The Slayer was considered to be human. If Demona had ever succeeded in destroying the human race, she would have been simultaneously dooming her own race. As such, Dominique decided that, from then on, there would be no more attempts at eliminating humans. She would just have to settle for killing off specific humans; like Elisa Maza. 

Turning her thoughts away from tearing the detective to shreds, Demona refocused her attention on Willow. She could easily see the resemblance between the two of them, even if Willow did look like she could take on Goliath and win, despite her far smaller size. There was even a resemblance between this youngling and her daughter, Angela, even if it were not so pronounced. The two could easily pass as sisters, which they were, in a way, she supposed. "Hmm, that bares looking into," she mused. "I'll have to send someone to collect hair samples on Monday. It will be interesting to see how that mage's spell affected her genetics, in both forms." That decided, Demona closed the compact for the moment as she prepped an order to have a team search the house on Monday while the child was at school.

Her plans set and the proper actions taken, the eldest living (and awake for that entire time) gargoyle reopened the compact and blinked in shock at what she saw. Willow had dressed in her shirt tunic again and was gathering a few stakes from her room. This could only mean one thing, someone was planning on hunting tonight. "Damn it!" Demona growled. "She's not ready to fight! She hasn't even learned to glide yet! And what if she's seen?" As Demona watched, Willow left the house through the front door, locking it behind her, and took to the air, her powerful wings actually managing to provide enough lift for her to gain a good thirty feet before she began to glide. "She can fly," the watcher murmured in shock. "A gargoyle that can fly under her own power. She really is amazing."

* * *

Back in Sunnydale, Willow was enjoying herself immensely. The feeling of the wind beneath her wings was unlike anything she had ever experienced. While she had managed to fly up to one hundred feet, it was very tiring; gliding was significantly easier. Thinking about the differences between normal gargoyles and herself, Willow noted, "Great, I'm the vampire bat of gargoyles. It figures, though I just hope I won't develop a taste for blood." 

Putting any negative thoughts behind her, Willow concentrated on enjoying her glide, while learning the proper way to maneuver. Having access to a millennium of experience was a definite boon, allowing the young gargoyle to quickly adapt her basic technique to take into account her wing blades and tail, both of which affected her maneuvering. While her distance gliding was effortless, what with wings almost half as large again as the average gargoyle, she still needed to work on her turns and mid air dodges, both of which were difficult to practice without a partner.

As she soared over the Bronze, Willow noticed a figure leading someone into a secluded back alley. Anywhere else, this would be a cause for mild to moderate concern. On top of the Hellmouth at night, however, it was a time for immediate action. The pair could be perfectly normal lovers or some such, but it was far more likely to be a hunting vampire and its prey. Just to be safe, Willow swept down and landed on a nearby roof, stumbling slightly as she landed, not used to doing such yet. There would be more time for practice later, Willow decided. The vampire needed to be taken care of now. Slowly, and as quietly as she could, she crawled down the side of the building, trying to get into the best position to attack from.

"What are we doing back here, Joe?" the following figure asked. Willow almost fell of the wall when she realized that it was Larry, the boy who always beat on her best friend. With an effort, she withheld the growl settled in her throat.

"Come on," the first figure replied, "this is a much better place to make out, don't you think?" A quick sniff, not even intentionally taken confirmed Willow's suspicions. One of the people in the ally was a vampire. The only strange thing was that both of them were male. Willow's eyes widened in shock as Larry agreed and pulled the man into a kiss. After a few minutes of kissing, which Willow found surprisingly hot, the unknown man broke away and began trailing kisses down towards Larry's neck. Larry tilted his head back, allowing the man better access and moaned lightly. The man suddenly reared back, his eyes wide and yellow, his forehead creased into his vampiric game face, and he lunged for the neck before him.

As soon as Willow saw the vampire ready to strike, she acted. Quickly springing from the wall, she tackled Larry head on, knocking him away from the blood sucker. With her wings slightly outstretched as they were, one of the wings hit the vampire just as Willow beat her wings to cushion her landing. In her adrenaline fueled state, her wing blades were bare, allowing them to, with the force of that single wing beat, slice clean through the vampire, bisecting him at the waist. Willow spun in place with a stake at the ready, prepared to fend off the vampire, only to find two small piles of dust. With the threat clearly gone in a poof of dust and ash, Willow turned to Larry and asked, "Are you okay?"

Larry blinked at the monster straddling him and asked, "What just happened? Who are you? WHAT are you?"

Willow stood and sighed. "How about you forget I exist, and I'll forget that you're gay, deal?" she suggested. Larry nodded his head vigorously before scrambling off into the night. "And, with any luck, this will be another case of Sunnydale denial," she muttered to herself before climbing the building to continue her gliding from the roof. The rest of her night was uneventful and she made it home just in time for her morning torture session, otherwise known as returning to a human form. With an exhausted sigh, Willow fell onto her bed and was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Dominique Destine watched for a moment as Willow slept. Despite her hatred for the majority of the human race, Dominique could not expel the feeling of pride she felt when Willow saved that boy. There was only one thing she truly disapproved of in regards to the youngling's activities that night. "Willow needs to learn the intricacies of flight," she thought to herself. "And she'll definitely need to learn how to fight properly. Her instincts seem good, but she doesn't actually know how to use her weapons most effectively. Maybe I'll have to go there and teach her. Yes, I think that should do nicely." With her plans for the near future set, Destine headed to bed. She wanted to see what Willow would do next, and watching the girl sleep was not going to be entertaining at all. 


	2. Midnight Meetings

Chapter 2

* * *

I still don't own any more than I did before. Hopefully, this chapter will remove any doubts about whether this is another _Willow Destine_ or not. If it does not convince you, the next chapter should.

* * *

A full week had passed since that eventful Halloween, and Willow had yet to divulge her new status as a part-time gargoyle to the rest of the Scoobies. She had escaped being revealed by using Dominique's own excuse, a mix of noctiphobia and anthropophobia. Surprisingly, no one questioned what Willow admitted was a fairly flimsy excuse. She still stayed current on the Slaying front, especially in the researching, with the help of Giles, who had installed a speaker phone in the library for this purpose. While she was not able to help Buffy as much as she would have liked, at least overtly, Willow was doing her part to actively help, having saved several people while out gliding. 

The one thing that had gone too well was hiding her changes from her parents. They had returned home for a few days before heading out again without ever noticing anything amiss. Considering that there was a highly visible gash in her door frame from her first night as a gargoyle, Willow found this somewhat depressing. The two psychologists had not noticed the noises from their daughter's room as she changed and left through the bedroom window, either. Neither activity was silent, showing how little concern Willow's parents felt towards her well being. They were already gone on another business trip, leaving Willow by herself. She was used to it by now.

Willow was checking her email Saturday evening when she noticed that Demona had sent her something. After the initial few days, the older gargoyle had stopped emailing her regularly, preferring to only contact the girl if there was something urgent to discuss, so the new email was a bit of a surprise. Willow quickly opened it and began to read.

_To: Meeting_

_I am going to be in Sunnydale tonight. Meet me on top of the school at 2:00 A.M. What I need to say should be told in person, not in an email. Of course, I could just show up at your house instead, but you would probably prefer to keep some avenues of escape open in case this is a trap or some such. It is not a trap, but I, of all people, understand the need for paranoia; as you well know. However, if you are not there by 2:30, to provide time for any heroics you seem compelled to undertake, I will be waiting for you in your room._

_Waiting moderately patiently, _

_Demona_

"She wants to see me?" Willow asked herself. "It's about time. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to need to try to get to Manhattan on my own if I wanted to meet her."

As it was approaching night, Willow changed into one of her new outfits, bought because they looked just as nice on her as a gargoyle as they did when she was human. None of the Scoobies had seen any of her new clothes because pre-Halloween Willow would have never worn anything so revealing. It was even worse than what Buffy had tried to force her into for Halloween. Dawn's suggestions were no better. Made from leather or heavy cloth, the ensembles looked more like a loincloth than anything else. Even though she still blushed at the thought of wearing such things, she really did not have much choice, as her tail would be in the way with nearly anything else. While she had been able to alter several pairs of panties to accommodate the extra limb, it would have been much harder to do so with anything sturdy enough to wear while hunting. She had tried wearing a skirt after her original shirt had been ripped to shreds, but the thought of helping ant local perverts was not in anyway appealing. Thus, she decided on something that would cover her properly, even if it did look embarrassingly like a loincloth.

After donning her clothing, Willow picked up the chew-toy, that she had originally bought as a joke to herself, and bit down on it as she waited for the fast approaching dusk to fall. Having bought the toy, she had decided it could not hurt to try it. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that it worked far better than a towel, and she had continued using the toy in this fashion from then on. Dusk fell, triggering her change from human to gargoyle. Biting down on the chew-toy to keep from screaming, Willow hunched over, no longer collapsing in pain with each change. Roaring the customary gargoyle wakeup call, the only known Hellmouth gargoyle got the rest of her supplies ready for the night. A couple of stakes and a few bottles of holy water later, and Willow was ready to go. Hopping out of her bedroom window, Willow spread her wings and began a leisurely glide.

"That's strange," Willow thought as she flew over the cemeteries and the factory sections of Sunnydale. "There doesn't seem to be much going on tonight. I mean, there are usually a few vamps hanging out where I would see them." Shrugging off the feeling of foreboding which accompanied this thought, she continued her glide, enjoying the unexpectedly quiet night, completely unaware that across the town Buffy was fighting for her life, caught in a trap planned by her old friend Ford and Spike. After flying around enjoying herself for several hours, Willow headed towards the school to meet Demona, eager to meet the older gargoyle face to face. Something was going to change this night. Willow could feel it. She could not wait to see what that change was going to be.

Already on the roof of the school sat Demona. She, too, had been waiting for this day to come. In her clawed hands she held a briefcase. Willow wondered at its contents as she approached, knowing that it would be the focal point of the night's meeting. As the youngling drew near, preparing to land, Demona spoke. "You're early," she commented. "That is good. It will give us more time to discuss your options."

Willow landed gracefully, an impressive feat for someone with wings that long. The landing seemed almost instinctual, which, in fact, it was. At the very least, the magic that caused her changes was some high quality magic. "It's good to finally see you in person, too," Willow quipped. "So, why the sudden meeting?"

"First, allow me to commend you for keeping this a secret so far," Demona said with a smirk. "I guess that means I won't be killing any of your friends. Yet."

"Hurt them, and I'll beat you to death with a shovel!" Willow threatened, her eyes glowing a bright red.

Demona's smirk grew and she replied, "Considering that I am immortal, and you know that, I find it hard to take your threat seriously."

Now it was Willow''s turn to smirk as she continued, "Your immortality will just let me beat you to death several times. Why stop at just once?" The tension broke as both gargoyles spontaneously broke out in laughter.

"Ah, I knew there was a reason I liked you," Demona commented after she stopped laughing. "Now, however, it is time for us to talk about more serious matters." Making herself comfortable on the roof, she gestured for Willow to do the same before continuing. "Your parents," Demona almost snarled, "are not fit to be raising anyone, especially not a girl as special as you are. I will be adopting you."

"What?" Willow demanded. "How are you going to do that?"

Demona opened her briefcase and handed a set of documents to Willow. "I have enough evidence to have them convicted for negligent child abuse, endangering a minor, just to name two. You would be made a ward of the state and then I would adopt you, or claim you as my own child. Interestingly enough, our genetic profiles would support that claim, thanks to whatever magic caused this. That would also get your parents arrested for kidnapping."

"But I'd miss my parents!" Willow protested. "I know they aren't the best, but they're all I have!"

"I know," Demona replied. "That is where your other option comes in. Together we would go to your parents, or just myself if you would prefer, and explain that they can either give me custody of you, while they would maintain visitation rights, or I'll push the case through and claim you that way. I don't care which way you chose, but either way I'll be getting you, and I'd rather not have another daughter hate me."

"You- you think of me as a daughter?" Willow asked incredulously. Her parents barely noticed her existence when they were home, thinking of her more as the statistically average teenager rather than their flesh and blood.

Demona blinked. "I never said that," she replied gruffly, as though trying to convince herself. "Now, what is your choice?"

"Definitely the second one because getting my parents arrested is not of the good, especially if we can do this with out the arrests and trials and I'm babbling and I need to stop so I'll just stop talking now." Ah, the joys of Willow-babble. Demona actually had to take a few seconds just to interpret the stream of words flowing out of Willow's mouth.

"Her gargoyle form must have an increased lung capacity," Demona mused softly. "That is the only way she could say so much without pausing for breath." Unfortunately, for her, she had not been as quiet as she had intended, as Willow heard her.

"Nope," Willow grinned. "It's all about practicing for several years." Looking around, Willow commented, "We should probably get going before Giles or Buffy notices us up here."

"Why would they be in the library at this time of night?"

"Giles is Giles. We're pretty sure he lives in there most of the time," Willow answered with a shrug. "It's not like we've never pulled all night research parties before, so the others could be there, too."

"In that case, it would be best for us to leave," Demona agreed. "Where would you like to continue our discussion?"

"I guess we could go back to my house," Willow suggested. "It's pretty much the only place in town where we won't be interrupted by random vampire attacks."

"Yes, that should do nicely. Let's go." With that, Demona jumped from the roof, circling the school twice to give Willow time to launch, and veered off towards the Rosenberg residence. The pair flew directly to their destination; there was time for fun later. Now it was time for business.

Willow landed in front of her house and quickly unlocked the front door and ushered Demona inside without a verbal invitation. This being Sunnydale, at night, no one in the neighborhood noticed anything odd, and those that did repressed it. Once both gargoyles were inside, Willow shut and locked the door. "There. We should be able to talk without any interruptions."

"Good," Demona replied while making herself comfortable on one of the living room couches. "We need to talk about your immediate future first. When are your parents going to be back?"

"They're coming back tomorrow for a few days," Willow started, before starting to babble, "so we can take care of the adoption type stuff then, and then we can go to Manhattan; I can't wait to meet the Clan, even if you don't get along with them, they're going to find out about me, and unless they meet me, they are going to think you're doing something evil again; besides, I really want to meet Angela; I've always wanted a sister, and." Demona calmly covered Willow's mouth with her hand, cutting the babbling short.

With a smile, Demona commented, "You really do have a surprisingly large lung capacity. You'll probably be able to fly even higher than I can before you start having problems."

"Just because you're immortal doesn't mean you don't need to breathe," Willow pointed out. "You wouldn't be able to glide at any higher an altitude than any other normal gargoyle before you'd start getting hypoxia."

"I suppose," the older gargoyle relented. "Hm, I think your eventual meeting with the Clan will be quite amusing." Demona gained a malicious, if not evil, smile at the thought. "You'll probably get along fairly well with Lexington, at least after he gets over his distrust, anyways."

"We are going to come back here eventually, right?" Willow asked, suddenly distraught. "I can't just abandon my friends here."

Demona awkwardly wrapped Willow in a motherly embrace, rubbing the youngling's hair soothingly as she reassured her new daughter, "We'll be back, I just need some time to train you properly and prepare to move the company out here."

"You're moving the company to Sunnydale?" Willow exclaimed in shock.

"By the Dragon, no," Demona chuckled. "Having to replace employees constantly because of 'gangs on PCP' or 'animal attacks' would be bad for business. I'll be moving Nightstone Unlimited to Los Angeles. We, however, will be moving back to Sunnydale."

If Willow had not already been wrapped in a hug, she would have tackled Demona in a hug at that declaration. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you!" A moment later, she added, "You know we're going to have to tell the Clan about the Hellmouth, right?"

"Why ever would we do that?" Demona asked with a blink. "It would just make them even more paranoid about me."

"It's not paranoia if you really are out to get them," Willow quipped. "Seriously, though, you know that at least some of the Clan is going to follow us back here. Especially Angela, if she can. I'd prefer they know what they're getting into. We could even hand them all the information they need." Willow was becoming more excited as her idea progressed. "If we give it to them freely, it could be like a peace offering so they'll begin to trust us."

"I suppose that is a good idea," Demona mused. "We'll need to collect all of the information before we leave, though."

"Don't worry about it," Willow scoffed. "I'll just make some copies in the library on Monday. I'll just tell Giles that it's so I can research at night without taking the books home with me every night." Willow was going to continue when a noise from upstairs caught the attention of both gargoyles. "Who's there?" Willow demanded looking at the stairs. "Show yourself!"

A young brunette appeared at the top of the stairwell and said, "Willow, it's me, Dawn. Mom had to head out of town for the night, and Buffy was hanging out with Ford, so I snuck over here."

Moving out of the girl's sight, Willow asked, "Why didn't Joice take you with her?"

Dawn made a face, that was audible if not visible, as she said, "Buffy was supposed to be watching me, but her date was more important. Is it okay if I stay here for the night?" Before Willow could answer, the ten year old was already down the stairs.

"I'm going to have to kill her, aren't I?" Demona asked mildly, flexing her clawed fingers as though around a throat.

Dawn blinked and looked at each of the gargoyles in turn. "Cool!" she exclaimed. "You're gargoyles! Just like the ones in New York!"

"How do you know about gargoyles?" Willow asked, surprised. She had never even heard of gargoyles before she became one, and she had access to a lot of really old books about demons and monsters. "And, no, Màthair , you can't kill her."

"Dad took me to New York before he sent me here and headed off with his secretary," Dawn explained. "A really cute, olive gargoyle saved me from a kidnapping. I'm going to find him again when I'm a little older. He doesn't know it yet, but he's mine."

Demona almost fell over laughing. "You have a crush on Lexington?" she managed to gasp out between her chortles. "Oh, this is wonderful."

Willow joined in by giggling. "Blackmail material, here we come!" she crowed.

Dawn ruined the moment by asking, "So, Willow, when did you become a gargoyle?"

"Forget that for the moment," Willow countered. "What were you doing outside at night?"

"I was careful!" Dawn exclaimed indignantly, waving a cross around. "Besides, I'm too small for a midnight snack. Us kids are probably the safest people in Sunnydale." A moment later, she added, "And don't think you've changed the subject! I want to know why you're a gargoyle!"

Willow sighed in defeat and looked to Demona for guidance. When the older gargoyle shrugged she sighed and said, "Fine; I'll tell you. But you'll have to promise to keep it a secret, okay?" Dawn nodded eagerly, so Willow continued, "How much do you remember from Halloween?"

"Willow, it was a week ago. I dressed up as a cowgirl and got a bunch of neat rope tricks from it," Dawn answered condescendingly. "But you should have known that already. I mean, you were with me when I bought the costume. What does Halloween have to do with you being a gargoyle, anyways?"

"I accidentally dressed as Demona," Willow explained. "And the amount of magic surrounding both of us caused me to turn into a gargoyle every night. There's more to it than that, but it's Demona's story to tell."

"How do you accidentally dress as a gargoyle?" Dawn asked. "Especially when your costume was of a business woman?"

Demona sighed and massaged her temples wearily. "You're too perceptive, brat," she commented.

"I'm a good eavesdropper," Dawn shot back with a grin. "It's the only way to find out anything around here, and only Willow knows about it so far. So much for sis' Slayer hearing, eh? Buffy's never heard or found me."

"Fine," Demona growled. "I'll tell you, but, if you tell anyone, I will kill you. Understand?" Dawn nodded, so Demona continued her explanation. "Puck used a spell on me that makes me a human during the day. My human identity is Dominique Destine, the owner and CEO of Nightstone Unlimited. Somehow, Willow managed to dress enough like my human guise for the Chaos spell to force my mind to possess her. The sun finished setting, I turned into a gargoyle for the second time that night, and realized that something was wrong. I made my way here, cast a protection spell and passed out. When the spell ended, I used a scrying spell and saw that Willow was still a gargoyle. That is all you need to know about how this happened."

"Darn, I should have thought of that," Dawn complained. "Think I could get this Puck to do that for me? Being a gargoyle would be so cool!"

Willow sighed and tried to change the subject by asking, "So, Dawnie, you are going to keep this between us, right?"

Dawn nodded solemnly before an impish grin crossed her face. "Of course I will. Buffy's been keeping the Slayage from me, so it's only fair that I keep this from her."

"Good," Demona replied. "I might not have to kill you after all."

Willow glanced at a nearby clock and suggested, "It's getting late. Why don't we all head to bed. We can finish talking in the morning."

"That may be for the best," Demona agreed.

"Alright, then," Willow started. "Demona, you can use the guest room. Dawnie can share my bed." With the sleeping arrangements settled, everyone prepared to go to bed. Once settled, all three quickly fell asleep, with Dawn tucked comfortably under one of Willow's wings.


	3. Getting to Know You

Chapter 3

Updated to fix typos. How many beta readers does an author need? One more than he has.

* * *

Dominique, after recovering from her diurnal ordeal, checked on the two girls in Willow's room. Neither Willow nor Dawn stirred with the raising of the sun and Willow's subsequent change back to human, much to Dominique's surprise. This could only mean one of a few things: either Willow and Dawn were far more tired than they seemed the night before, or Willow's transformations were becoming significantly less painful. Deciding to let the girls sleep another few hours, she made her way back to the guest room and its comfortable bed. She was asleep again within five minutes.

"Willow, honey, I'm home," called a female voice from downstairs a few hours later, rousing two girls from their slumber.

"Mom?" Willow called back. "You're here early! I'll be down soon!"

"Early?" Sheila asked. "It's after noon!"

Willow stumbled down the stairs, rubbing her eyes tiredly, with Dawn in tow. "Really? We must have been more tired than we thought. Oh, Dawn stayed over last night because Buffy had a date or something. I'm going to call Buffy and let her know that Dawn's fine and then get something to eat, okay?"

Sheila shook her head and said, "You go call that Bunny girl and let her know that her sister is alright, and I'll go cook some eggs for you girls. What would you like?"

It took a moment for Dawn to stop snickering at Buffy being called Bunny. "I'll take scrambled eggs with mustard and pickles, please," she piped up, drawing odd looks from the others.

"Moving away from what Dawn considers edible," Willow began, "I'll have scrambled eggs as well, please." Sheila nodded and headed to the kitchen to start cooking. "Oh! I forgot about Dominique," Willow exclaimed. "Let me go see what she wants." Willow quickly made her way up the stairs and to the guest room. A few minutes later, Willow was back. "Dominique says that scrambled eggs should be fine, Mom. She'll be down in a few minutes."

"Alright, dear," Sheila replied. "Three orders of scrambled eggs it is. I'll let you deal with your own condiments." While still cooking the eggs, she turned to Willow and asked, "Could you set the table? Make sure you get everything you need. Thank you."

As Willow obediently began to set the table, she glanced around before inquiring, "Mom, where's Dad? Shouldn't he have gotten back already?"

Sheila sighed and said, "No, your father decided to go to a convention in Manhattan at the last minute. "I came home instead; I wanted to spend some time with my daughter." She winked boldly and added, "Besides, all of those conferences get boring after a while. Especially when I don't know what their going to be about until I get there."

With tears in her eyes, Willow murmured, "Oh, Mom," and enveloped the older Rosenberg in a hug.

"I know we don't spend much time together," Sheila continued, returning the hug. "Work always keeps Ira and I busy, and I don't want to disrupt your classes by taking you with us all the time. But, even if we don't say it often, we do love you."

"I love you too, Mom."

"I assume we'll be going with Plan B, after all," Dominique remarked as she walked in on the familial scene. "I suppose we should save that discussion until after breakfast, however. Holding her hand out to Sheila, Dominique said, with just the smallest of contemptuous smirks, "I am Dominique Destine. You must be Willow's mother. You and I have much to discuss."

"Yes, I'm Willow's mother, Sheila Rosenberg. Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Destine," Sheila replied as she shook the other woman's hand. "Now, breakfast is just about ready, so why don't you go sit at the table, and I'll bring it right out?"

Dawn, already sitting at the table, was nearly bouncing in her seat as she waited. As soon as the eggs were placed on the table, she pounced, piling eggs onto her plate. Next came the pickles and mustard. While the others watched in mild disgust, Dawn took a bite and moaned, "Mmm, delicious." Ignoring Dawn's creative culinary tastes, the others tucked into their own meals.

"Ms. Destine, I must admit that I'm curious as to what would bring the CEO of a company as large as Nightstone Unlimited to a small town like Sunnydale," Sheila stated, wanting to start a conversation.

"To be perfectly blunt," Dominique began with a malicious grin. "I'm here to adopt your daughter."

"What?" Sheila shouted, slapping her hands on the table. "Why would we allow you to do that?"

"Quite honestly, you don't have much of a choice," Dominique explained smugly. "I have enough evidence of neglect to have you and your husband arrested and have Willow made a ward of the state. After that, it would be a simple matter to adopt her."

"If it would be that easy for you," Sheila practically snarled, "why are you bothering to tell me this? Why not just do it and be done with it?"

Demona sighed, suddenly looking far older than normal. "I have already alienated my daughter, perhaps beyond reconciliation. I have no wish to do so again."

"She came here to ask me what I wanted," Willow said. "She gave me a choice, either she has you and Dad arrested for neglect, and then adopts me; or we convince you to let her adopt me, and you'd keep visitation rights." Sheila could only stare at her daughter in shock at how calmly she was taking this.

"Yes, that was the original choice," Dominique continued. "However, it is obvious how much you care for Willow, even if you do not express those feelings properly. Thus, I have another option for you. I adopt Willow and we share joint custody. Of course, there would be a few additional conditions with this approach."

"Why are you so set on adopting my daughter?" Sheila demanded. "There is no way you could have met her before now, so why are you so insistent?"

"That is none of your concern, unless you plan on going with joint custody," Demona replied. "Besides which, I doubt you would believe the truth."

"And why wouldn't I believe the truth?"

"Tell me, Mrs. Rosenberg, do you believe in magic?" Demona asked with a sardonic smirk. Dawn continued watching the continuing conversation quietly, lest she be remembered and forced to leave; this was interesting.

"What does magic have to do with this?" Sheila asked, beginning to lose her patience.

"Why, everything, my dear. This situation would have never arose if not for a Chaos mage on Halloween," Dominique began.

"How could some delusional satanist cause anything to happen?"

"Um," Willow interjected, "Ethan Rayne worshiped Janus, not Satan. Not sure about delusional, though."

"Indeed," Dominique assented. "Rayne cast a spell that would cause anyone wearing a costume, or part of a costume, purchased at his store would become that costume. Willow apparently dressed similarly enough like me for the magic to cause me to posses her. I made my way here and cast a protection spell before passing out from the effort. When the spell broke, I was sent back to my body and Willow slept on."

"Even if what you say is true," Sheila protested, "it doesn't explain why you'd want to adopt Willow."

"Ah, yes, I suppose more information is needed," Dominique admitted. "The simple answer is that far more magic was involved with Willow and myself than with any one else that night. To make matters even worse, they were different types of magic. As a rule, mixing magic of different types is a bad idea. Another good rule to follow is to never mix anything with Chaos magic, not even other Chaos magic. Actually, especially Chaos magic. In any event, Willow and I were exposed to at least four different types of magic that night."

"What types of magic would those be?" Sheila asked tiredly, not truly believing the woman before her but choosing to humor her.

"I have personally been put under two Fae spells, the Chaos spell, and I cast a scrying spell on Willow using the link the Chaos spell created. I also cast a protection spell around myself while in Willow's body," Demona began. "You'll have to ask Willow for her list, however, I am not completely sure what else she's been exposed to."

"Well," Willow hedged. "I was under that Chaos spell, the protection spell, and the scrying spell, as Dominique has already said. I've also been exposed to energy from the Hellmouth my entire life, and I was near the open Hellmouth last year before we managed to close it again."

"What is a Hellmouth?" Sheila asked, not recognizing the word.

"A Hellmouth," Willow began in a lecturer's voice, "is a transdimensional portal to a hell dimension. It leaks energy that attracts vampires, demons, and pretty much anything that wants to destroy the world. One happens to be located underneath the library at school."

"You honestly expect me to believe that vampires are real?" Sheila asked incredulously. "What's next? That gargoyles are real and not just a publicity stunt?"

"Gargoyles are to real!" Dawn blurted out, giving up her spot as the unobserved observer. "One saved me in New York!"

"Gargoyles are most definitely real," Dominique all but growled, "as you will see tonight. We'll make sure to show you a vampire as well."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Mom, Dominique left out one little detail about herself," Willow began soothingly. "She was hatched as a gargoyle and turns into a human during the day." Willow paused and Sheila stared at her daughter in mounting horror as the pieces fell into place. "Yes, Mom, that is why Dominique, or rather Demona, wants to adopt me. I turn into a gargoyle at night now, too."

"Additionally," Dominique added, "I am one of her biological parents now." Smiling at the confused looks on mother, daughter, and guest, she continued, "When I saw how closely Willow's gargoyle body resembles my own, I was curious, so I had hair samples discretely collected while Willow was at school. Genetic testing shows Willow's DNA to be a mess, compared to normal, but I could file as her biological mother and have it substantiated."

"So you have three parents?" Dawn asked Willow quietly.

"Looks like," Willow whispered back.

"It's a good thing I'm already sitting down," Sheila quipped shakily. "Otherwise, I would have fallen by now. Dominique, if I may call you that?" with Dominique's nod, she continued, "if you are telling the truth, and can prove it, I am willing to share custody with you. We'll still need to tell my husband first, though."

"That is acceptable," Dominique agreed. "Tonight we will show you our gargoyle selves and take you out hunting. It should be interesting to see Willow fight first hand, rather than through the scrying spell."

"Why do you have two names, Dominique?" Dawn asked in a sudden change of topic.

Dominique smiled a surprisingly friendly smile and replied, "I needed a human identity so my human form would no be linked to my gargoyle form. Speaking of which, Willow, you still needs a new identity for your gargoyle form."

"What type of name should it be?" Willow asked. "I mean, what are good gargoyle names?"

"Ooh! I have a name!" Dawn exclaimed, waiving a raised hand excitedly. "It's perfect!"

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to hear it," Willow mused. "Alright, let's hear it."

"You should call yourself wisp!" Dawn began. "I was playing Castlevania over a friends house and they had these things called Will o' Wisp. So, if you call yourself Wisp, you'd be Willow Wisp!"

"Hm." Willow thought silently for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure I like where you got the name, even if it is geeky enough for me, but I do like the name. My gargoyle name is Wisp. Thanks, Dawn."

Demona chuckled quietly at the antics of the two girls and declared, "I think that's a wonderful name. Don't you agree, Sheila?"

"Yes, it is quite a pretty name," Sheila agreed. "I'm sure it'll it you perfectly." Sheila turned back to Dawn and said, "Now, young lady, I believe it is time for you to head home. Willow, could yo take her, so Dominique and I can have a private chat?"

"Sure, Mom," Willow agreed. "But I want both of you to promise to not hurt each other, okay?" Both women agreed so Willow led Dawn outside to begin the trip across town.

As soon as the girls were out of the house, Sheila turned back to Dominique and flatly stated, "I may not have been properly involved in my daughter's life before, but nothing you do will stop me from being there fore her from now on."

"Good," Dominique said with a genuine smile. "It will be much better for Willow if she has your continued support." Her smile fell as she continued, "Even with your help, meeting Clan Wyvern is going to be taxing for her."

"Why is that?" Sheila asked. "Won't other gargoyles welcome her?"

Dominique grimaced. "Possibly," she admitted, "if it weren't for two things. First, I am her mother, or at least extremely close to being such. The Clan and I do not get along, to put it mildly. I suppose I can't really blame them, though, considering the number of times I tried to kill them or destroy the human race." Sheila gasped in shock, so Dominique waved a hand placatingly and added, "Don't worry, I've stopped scheming about the destruction of all humans about a week ago. Without humans, this world would be over run by demons within a month."

"And the other reason?" Sheila asked cautiously.

"Willow is a new type of gargoyle; she called herself a Hellmouth Gargoyle," Dominique explained. "She looks far more dangerous than any other gargoyle I have ever seen. The Clan might think she is a modified clone designed and conditioned as a weapon."

"Have you dealt with such things before?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Demona admitted. "I tried to start my own clan by cloning the originals. Unfortunately, Thailog betrayed both my self and the other clones, so they won't trust me anymore."

"That's horrible! How could this Thailog do such a thing?" Sheila lamented.

"He was made to act like that. I just hadn't realized it at the time," Dominique admitted sadly. She was surprised when Sheila wrapped her in a comforting hug. Moving away from the painful memories, Dominique continued, "Hopefully, having you there will let the Clan know how much I've changed and let the meeting be peaceful, for a change."

"I'll do whatever I can to help," Sheila promised. "Come on, I think we have some chocolate ice cream in the freezer. You look like you could use some cheering up."

"Thank you," Dominique said with a genuine, if sad, smile, surprised that she did not feel bitter about being comforted by a human. The two woman stood and made their way to the kitchen, intent on massacring a helpless container of ice cream.

* * *

As Willow and Dawn walked back to the Summers residence, Dawn continued to ask Willow questions. "Can I go gliding with you some time?" the excited little girl asked.

Willow chuckled and answered, "We'll see, Dawn, but definitely not until I've had more practice. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, after all." Dawn pouted, which had no effect on Willow's answer.

When are you going to tell the Scoobies?"

"That is a good question," Willow admitted. "I guess it mostly depends on when Màthair will let me tell them."

"What does màthair mean?" Dawn asked, wrinkling her nose at the unknown word.

"It's Gaelic for mother," Willow replied. "Why do you ask?"

"You just used that instead of Demona," Dawn pointed out. "And you know Gaelic? Cool!"

"I suppose I do," Willow mused. "It is Demona's first language, after all."

"Can you teach me?" Dawn asked with large, shining eyes.

Willow ruffled the girl's hair and agreed, "Sure, I'll teach you. But you have to keep up your grades at school, okay?" Dawn nodded enthusiastically, nearly bouncing at the idea. She had already started to learn Latin from one of the books in the high school library out of boredom and had discovered that the language was surprisingly easy. She had only been in Sunnydale a month, yet she was better at Latin than her sister, which admittedly did not mean very much.

"Did you learn any other languages from Demona," Dawn asked excitedly.

"I think so," Willow said. "I mean, Demona was alive for something around one thousand years, so she probably learned most of the European languages and possibly a few Asian languages. I'm not really sure, so I'll have to look around in my head to find out."

"What do you think Buffy's going to do when she finds out about you an Demona?"

"Well, if she tries to slay either of us, I hope she goes for Demona," Willow said with an evil grin. "Demona's immortal, so can you imagine Buffy's face as she tried to kill her?"

"Yup!" Dawn exclaimed before pouting severely and mimicking Buffy's voice to say, "I want her dead! Why won't she stay dead? Giles! Make the mean monster stay dead!" Both girls laughed at that thought for the rest of the walk.

* * *

Buffy opened the door to see who was knocking and suddenly rushed out. "Dawn!' the Slayer exclaimed as she wrapped her younger sister in a crushing embrace. "Where have you been? What have I told you about going outside at night?"

"Need... to... breathe," Dawn manage to gasp. Buffy quickly released the slightly suffocated girl, allowing her to catch her breath before answering, "I was at Willow's. And you said to not go outside at night unless I was prepared. I was prepared! I had a stake and a cross and stayed in the well lighted streets and everything!"

"I meant to call earlier," Willow added, "but with everything that was going on, I kind of forgot. Sorry."

"It's alright," Buffy sighed. "I'm just glad Dawnie's safe."

"So, how was your date?" Dawn asked, to get the subject of conversation off of her.

"It wasn't a date!" Buffy huffed. "I was just going with him as a friend."

"So, how was it?" Willow asked.

"It was horrible!" the slayer bemoaned. "Ford took me to a club of vampire wannabes, and it was really a trap for Spike!"

"I thought it seemed too quiet last night," Willow muttered. To cover for her slip, she quickly exclaimed, "At least you made it out safely!"

"Yeah, that's true," Buffy admitted. "So, want to hang out for a while?"

"I'd love to, but my mom's in town and she wants to do the parent child bonding thing," Willow replied. "Maybe some other time, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Well, have fun with your mom," Buffy said, wilting slightly in disappointment.

"I hope to," Willow replied. With a quick wave, she turned and started back towards her home, calling over her shoulder, "Bye, Buffy! I'll see you Monday."

* * *

Back at the Rosenberg house, Sheila and Dominique were bonding over their bowls of chocolate ice cream. Willow entered just in time to hear her mother say, "And then she threw her cake into Ira's face! It started a food fight that completely ruined the convention hall!" Both women descended into light hearted laughter.

Still laughing, Dominique replied, "I never knew psychologists could be so immature!"

"Mom," willow complained, "why haven't you told me any stories like that?"

Sheila quickly stopped laughing and engulfed her daughter in a warm hug, apologizing, "I'm sorry, dear. I just didn't want you to be embarrassed by us."

"Why would that embarrass me?" Willow asked. "It just shows that you're human." Looking back and forth between the two women, Willow added, "So, did you two get along alright?"

"We got along splendidly," Dominique replied, gaining a sad smile. "At least, after we got past our different birth species and my hate for all things human. After that, we commiserated over our dismal failures at motherhood. I even offered her a job."

"Really?"

"Yes," Sheila answered with a small smile. "Dominique thought that getting a counselor for her employees who knows about the nightlife would be a tremendous help to the company." She gave Willow's shoulder an extra squeeze and added, "It'll also keep me near you when you go to New York."

"Speaking of New York," Willow jumped in as the mention of the city triggered a thought, "When is Dad's convention thing going to finish?"

"He said that he'd be there until Friday, so we're going to fly out there and take care of everything there, considering we need to go there anyways. It'll save everyone a trip."

"We're leaving so soon?" Willow asked in shock. "But I need to say goodbye to my friends, and they're going to want to know where I'm going, and if I tell them the truth they're going to get suspicious and try to Slay Màthair or something, and." She was cut off by Dominique's hand covering her mouth.

The currently human gargoyle smirked and commented to Sheila, "You daughter's lung capacity is truly a marvel." Turning back to Willow she asked, "Are you aware that you just called me mother?"

Willow nodded and replied, "Dawn pointed it out to me on the way to her house. She wants me to teach her Gaelic." A moment later she added, "And any other languages I remember."

"We'll have to look into that later," Dominique promised. "Now, however, we should prepare for tonight. We only have a few hours left, and we don't want Sheila to be hurt while we're busy."

"What about the two of you?" Sheila protested. "I don't want either of you to be hurt, either!"

"Mom," Willow began soothingly. "I've been doing this type of thing for over a year, now. And I'm far safer now than I was then. I was pretty much made to fight in my gargoyle form. And I always carry a stake with me, just to be safe."

"And there is no need to worry about me," Demona asserted. "I'm immortal until Macbeth or I kill the other."

"Alright," Sheila relented. "What will I need?"

"Well, I've got some holy water and a few crosses upstairs," Willow admitted, ignoring her mother's glare. "The crosses can keep vampires away and burn them on contact, it has no religious purpose for me. The holy water can burn them like acid. Unfortunately, neither will kill a vampire. Beheading, a stake through the heart, and fire do that best. Sunlight would work, but we'll be a little short on that. I also have a sword or two hidden away in case Buffy ever decides to patrol from here."

"Good," Dominique said. "I'll take the swords; I have a lot of practice with them already. Willow should be fine with just a stake and her natural weapons. Sheila, you should take some holy water and a stake. We'll all have crosses, just to be on the safe side."

"Well, since that's all planned, I'll go get started on dinner," Sheila said after a moment of silence. "We wouldn't want to be hungry out there." She walked to the kitchen to begin her preparations for diner, trying to put aside thoughts of what the night would bring until she could deal with it.

* * *

With dinner eaten, and the sun about to set, Dominique and Willow retreated to change into better clothing for their alternate bodies. When they came downstairs, Sheila took one look at Willow's choice in clothing and protested, "Willow! How could you wear something like that? It looks like a loincloth! No self respecting daughter of mine will wear something that degrading! Go and change into something more suitable this instant!"

Dominique just laughed heartily at the look on the two Rosenberg's faces. "Sheila," she began. "That is about the most suitable she can get, at least without having something tailored for her. How many tailors do you know who cater to inhuman clients?"

"Actually," Willow broke in, "considering that this is Sunnydale..."

Dominique shook her head and said, "You aren't helping your case any, you know that, right?" When Willow looked properly sheepish, she continued, "Though we will be looking into these tailors as soon as we're back from New York. While I may like my normal clothing, sometimes something more is needed. Like Kevlar."

"Alright, then," Sheila conceded. "I suppose that will do for tonight. However, we will be seeing about more modest clothing later, young lady."

"Yes, Mom," Willow sighed.

"It is almost dusk. We should get ready for the change," Dominique announced. Willow nodded and pulled out her chew toy, popping it in her mouth.

While her mother gave her a strange look, Dominique just nodded and mused, "I suppose that is less painful than biting your tongue. Not to mention regrowing your tongue each time."

"Um, yeah," Willow said. "Biting my tongue would not be of the good. Especially since, you know, I won't grow it back."

"I may have to try using something to bite, as well," Dominique admitted.

The sun set shortly there after, causing the beginning of the change. Dominique bit her tongue off as she held in her scream, while Willow made good use of her chew toy. Sheila winced with each crack of bone and the looks of pain on their faces. Luckily, the change was soon completed, leaving two gargoyles where two humans had once stood. Both gargoyles reared their heads back and roared, their eyes glowing an eerie red. "That is... quite impressive," Sheila noted after she recovered her bearings. "If I didn't know what to look for, I would never recognized either of you."

"You should see what gargoyles normally look like when awakening," Demona replied. "Shattering their stone skin when they wake is quite the sight to behold. When I am a gargoyle, please call me Demona. It is best to keep my identities separate."

"I'll go by Wisp. It should be about an hour before any vampires are hunting," Wisp stated. "We can talk until then, or something."

"I'd like that," Sheila said. "I'd especially like to see these weapons you mentioned."

"Fine, I'll show you," Wisp relented. Holding out one of her wings, willow retracted the blade's sheath. "I don't know how sharp these things are, but I'm not going to test it. They're more than sharp enough to kill a vamp."

"Hm," Demona mused as she ran a finger down the blade. When the finger fell off, she blinked and announced, "That cut through my finger even before I felt it cutting me. Granted, it cut through the joint and not the bone, but that is still sharper than most knives."

"I'm not even sure what they're made of," Wisp admitted. "It doesn't look like bone, but I'm not sure what else it could be."

"We'll take a look at it while we're in New York," Demona promised. Her finger had already finished growing back.

"I also have a blade at the end of my tail," Wisp said, holding up her tail. "See, it folds out and back to make a cutting edge. I accidentally cut through the door frame of my room last week."

"We never even noticed," Sheila muttered, aghast. "I knew I was a bad parent, but I didn't think I was _that_ bad!" Slowly, so as to avoid any potentially dangerous weapons that Wisp had not reveal yet, Sheila hugged her daughter. "I promise to be a better mother from now on." A moment later, she asked, "Why does it feel like you have armor?"

"You're a great mom, Mom," Wisp reassured her mother. "And those are armor plates under my skin. I think they're cartilage, but I'm not sure."

"Another thing we can look into once we reach New York," Demona noted.

"Is there anything else we should know about?" Sheila asked.

"Not much," Wisp shrugged. "I can unhinge my jaw like a snake, so I can probably eat stuff whole, and I can fly, rather than just glide like other gargoyles. I weighed myself a few days ago, out of curiosity, and I actually weigh a about the same as I used to,which doesn't make sense, what with the wings and tail and all."

"That is interesting," Demona replied. "Especially as gargoyle bones are denser than human bones. I lose somewhere around fifty pounds when I become human. And that is yet another thing we're going to have to look into."

"I suppose." Wisp looked at the clock and added, "We might as well get started; the vamps should be out by now."

"How are we going to hunt?" Demona asked with a feral grin.

"The first is to just patrol and hope we spot something, typically a vamp trying to feed or something. The second is to have one of us, in this case Mom, act like bait and try to lure a vampire someplace we can dust it without being noticed. Buffy also goes by the cemeteries if there are any suspicious deaths recently."

"While using Sheila as bait would probably garner faster results, allowing her to come into close contact with a vampire wold be extremely dangerous for her," Demona pointed out.

"Right," Wisp nodded. "Mom getting eaten would not be of the good. Patrolling it is. Luckily, we'll be able to cover much more area than Buffy, without being seen. If we glide, at least."

"Glide?" Sheila asked. "How would I be able to join you if you're in the air?"

"One of us will carry you," Demona stated, as if stating the obvious. "Considering that Wisp is still learning the intricacies of flight, I will carry you. I don't want her practicing with real people unless we're high enough for me to catch them if they fall. Besides, Wisp is more used to fighting vampires than I."

"Alright, then," Sheila sighed, highly relieved that the significantly more experienced gargoyle would be carrying her. "Shall we get going?" she asked as she led the procession outside.

"Yes," Demona answered. "Let's go to the roof. Unlike Wisp, I cannot start gliding from the ground."

Wisp playfully stuck her tongue out at Demona and jumped into the air, mighty beats of her wings propelling her upwards. When she gained enough altitude, she began circling, waiting for the others to join her. "Come on, you slow pokes!" she called down laughingly.

Demona chuckled, shaking her head and commented to Sheila, "I'm really looking forward to her meeting the Clan. They won't know what to make of her."

"Considering what she's been doing for the last year, I doubt they'll scare her," Sheila replied.

"Oh, I'm not worried about her," Demona declared with an evilly feral grin.

Sheila chose to ignore the grin in favor of asking, "How are we going to do this? Am I going to be on your back, or are you going to hold me?"

"It would be easiest if you held on to my back while I climb to the roof. After that, I'll carry you."

"Alright, let's do this," Sheila said as she built up her confidence. As Demona turned to the house, she wrapped her arms around the gargoyle's neck, trying to grip firmly without causing discomfort.

Sheila gasped in surprise when a tail was threaded through her legs and pressed against her back. Demona grinned over her shoulder and commented, "Wisp would never forgive me if I let you fall, so I'm adding an extra level of protection wherever I can."

Sheila grinned back and replied, "Thanks, I feel much more secure this way."

"Come on, already!" Wisp whined from the air. Having grown bored of circling, the young gargoyle had begun gliding in a figure eight.

"Keep your wings on!" Demona shouted back as she finally began to scale the house. A minute and a change in position later, both gargoyles were in the air and winging their way over the town. "Where should we look first?" Demona called out as she approached Wisp.

"I think Buffy and the gang are looking for fledglings tonight, so we'll avoid the the cemeteries for now and see if any vampires are looking for dinner at the Bronze," Wisp called back.

"That sounds fine," Demona replied. "Lead the way."

Willow veered off, followed by Demona and her mother. Once they reached the club, they began the normal aerial search pattern, namely circling. Soon Wisp spotted suspicions activity. Two figures were walking away from the Bronze towards a darkened alley. Silently motioning to Demona, she landed on the roof next to the alley and began crawling down the wall towards the figures.

"I don't know if is such a good idea, Mark," a familiar male voice said. Wisp groaned; it was Larry again. "There's these- things- that attack people. What if one of them finds us here?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Mark replied. "I am one of those things!" The vampire's face morphed into its demonic facade and it lunged at the football player, fangs bared.

Wisp pounced on the vampire, knocking it away. Turning to Larry, Wisp suggested, "It might be a good idea to start carrying a cross. Or, you know, making sure your date has a pulse."

"I'll get you for that!" the vampire snarled as he stood and made his way towards the young gargoyle.

"Think fast!" Sheila called as she dumped a bottle of holy water over the roof. The vampire roared in pain as the water burned him. "I guess it really does work," the slightly surprised mother muttered.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Demona jumped down from the roof, calling out, "Heads up!" as she drew a sword and decapitated the vampire. The head flew away to land in Larry's hands before crumbling to dust. The jock screamed in terror before summarily feinting. If nothing else, it saved the group an explanation. "I take it that this is not the first time you've saved this boy?" Demona asked.

"Yeah, he was actually the first person I saved as a gargoyle," Wisp explained. "I agreed to forget that he was gay if he'd forget about me. It would have been nice if he'd learned his lesson last time, though."

"What are we going to do with him?" Sheila called down from the roof. "We can't just leave him out here."

"Well, I don't know where he lives," Wisp admitted, "so we'll either have to bring him home with us or drop him at the hospital or something."

"I vote to drop him at the hospital," Demona stated. "I don't trust him, and bringing him back to the house is just asking for trouble."

"That makes sense," Wisp agreed. "But how will we get him there?"

"One of us will have to carry him, of course," Demona replied. "I suggest that I carry him because he won't be able to hold on if you drop him."

"Are you alright with that plan, Mom?" Wisp asked.

Sheila sighed and nodded. "I suppose it is the best we can do at the moment. Now get up here so we can go home!" The two gargoyles quickly scrambled back up the wall with Larry in tow. Minutes later the quartet was slowly and safely winging their way towards the hospital. After a few near drops, Wisp got the hang of carrying her mother and everyone made it to the hospital intact. After performing a 'Ding Dong Dash' while leaving Larry behind, the women made their way back to the Rosenberg residence for the remainder of the night. Willow would need her sleep for school in the morning.


	4. Meetings Gone Awry

Meetings gone awry

Chapter 4

--  
Yes, it LIVES! Anyways, I decided to continue this and discovered that I had the entirety of this chapter, bar a few changes, hanging around. No, this is not a one time thing, the story is revived. I still own nothing. Here we start to see just how diverent from Willow Destine this thing really is.

"Hi everyone!" Willow greeted as she walked into the library. Looking at the assembled Scoobies, Buffy, Xander, Giles, and, surprisingly, Cordelia, she said. "I've got some important news."

"It's not another apocalypse, is it?" Giles asked worriedly.

"Don't worry," Willow assured the Watcher. "There's nothing Slay-ish about this."

"Oh thank God," Giles muttered quietly.

"What's wrong," Xander asked, leaning over to give his best friend a comforting hug. "What ever it is, we'll help you."

"Well, you see," Willow hedged with a mischievous glint in her eye, "I'm pregnant with Giles' love baby." Giles, who had been taking a sip of his tea, sprayed it all over Buffy.

"Ew! Giles! How could you?" Buffy demanded.

"B-but I n-never!" Giles protested, staring at Willow in shock.

"Giles, if you hurt Willow," Xander warned, completely serious, "I know where you live, and I know how to blow stuff up. That said, you will be doing the honorable thing and marry Willow."

"Why is Rupert marrying Willow?" Jenny Calendar asked as she walked into the library.

"Because he knocked up Willow," Cordelia answered bluntly. "Honestly, I thought people as smart as you two would at least use condoms," she added, shaking her head sadly as she made her way out of the library.

"Rupert! How could you?" Jenny asked accusingly, though with a twinkle in her eye. "You should have at least asked if I wanted to join you!"

"But we never!" Giles protested, momentarily losing his stutter before his brain shut down at the implications of Jenny's accusations and exact wording.

Willow could not take it anymore and cracked up, laughing at the faces her friends were sporting. Once she managed to calm down, she waved at the others from her half bent position and gasped out, "I can't believe you fell for that!"

"Wait, what?" Buffy asked eloquently.

"I'm not really pregnant," Willow managed to say through her remaining giggles. "It was just a joke. You should have seen your faces!" Looking towards Jenny, she added, "Thanks for jumping in like that."

Jenny chuckled for a moment before responding, "You're welcome, Willow. And who said I was joking?" Once everyone had been staring for a good minute or so, Jenny broke down laughing.

"So what is it really, Wills?" Xander asked, steering the conversation away from disturbing topics. "Or was this all just a joke?"

"Well, I do have some real news, but that was too good to pass up."

"So what's really going on?" Buffy asked.

"This is my last day is Sunnydale for a while," the redhead announced.

"What!" the others demanded.

"Mom's taking me to New York for a few days to take care of some stuff," Willow replied. "Don't worry, I can still help you research," she added quickly. "I'll just need to make copies of some of the books to bring with me." Plopping down in front of the computer and beginning to work her magic, she added, "Besides, we still have most of the database intact on here. We might as well use it."

"As long as you don't scan another demon into that infernal machine, go ahead," Giles said with a sigh. Not that Willow had waited for approval, having already started to scan more books into the computer, after first checking for any warnings about possessing demons or other potential hazards.

"How long are you going to be gone, Willow?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not really sure," Willow admitted with a shrug. "It depends on how long it takes to take care of everything. Probably just a week or two."

"So what do you need to do?" Xander asked, concerned.

Luckily for Willow, the discussion was interrupted when Giles noted the time. "As important as all this is, you really should be getting to your classes now. We wouldn't want to give Snyder a valid reason to harass you, after all." Turning to Willow, he continued, "I will, of course, attempt to scan more books into the database while you are in class."

Hopping up from her seat, the computer guru hugged the librarian and said, "Thanks, Giles! That'll be a great help. I'll come by after class to make a copy of the database, okay? Thanks, bye!" Releasing the sputtering man, the redhead quickly made her way to class, followed by Xander and Buffy.

"What will we need to pack?" Sheila asked Dominique as they prepared for the coming trip. They were planning on leaving just after sunrise the next morning, so everything needed to be ready before sunset. Sheila was currently packing her own suitcase and was going to work on Willow's next.

Dominique shrugged, saying, "That really depends on how much you want to carry. You can pack for a few days and buy more clothing in New York, or you can bring everything you could possibly need. Either way, we're using my private jet, so there won't be a limit to the amount of luggage you can take."

"I guess I'll pack for two weeks or so," Sheila decided. She quickly began shifting through her warmer clothing to find the appropriate attire for the coming weeks. "This way we'll have the best selection without packing too much."

"That is acceptable," Dominique agreed. "We should meet with the Clan tomorrow night, before they have a chance to grow more suspicious than they already will be." Sheila nodded her agreement and turned back to her packing.

Once Willow returned from school, she aided in the packing, making sure that nothing important would be left behind. Packing, and then repacking, lasted far into the night.

It was early Tuesday morning, and all the vampires were soundly asleep in their crypts. All except for one, at any rate. A single, annoyed, bleached blond vampire was hiding in a shadowed alley, waiting for his prey to walk past. As he waited, pacing to ease his frustration, Spike was muttering to himself. "Why does Dru want this girl, anyways?" he asked himself. "It's not like a ten year old 'as enough blood to bother with. 'Ell, she can't even be a nibblet! Still, my Dru wants 'er, so I'll get 'er." As luck would have it, his target walked by mere moments later. With speeds only associated with vampires and slayers, Spike struck, grabbing the girl off the sunlit side walk and retreating back to the shadows before he even began to burn.

"Hey!" Dawn Summers protested loudly. "What do you think you're mph!" she managed to say before a too cool hand covered her mouth, muffling her protests.

"Oi! Stop struggling'!" Spike ordered. "I'm not going to 'urt you none. Just takin' you to see my Dru." Dawn only struggled harder, which caused Spike to sigh and put the girl in a sleeper hold, rendering the girl unconscious. "Sorry, pet, but I couldn't have you attractin' any attention, now could I?" Carefully picking up the now unconscious girl, the vampire jumped down a nearby sewer access and made his way back to his lair. It was time to call in the Order of Taraka.

"So why are we leaving at eight in the morning?" Willow asked again as she boarded the private jet.

"While Sunnydale may be notorious for not investigating oddities," Dominique explained for the fourth time, "arriving in New York as gargoyles would not go unnoticed. With people like the Quarrymen around, we have to be careful."

"That, and I'd like us to get settled in before meeting the Manhattan Clan," Sheila added as she dropped into her own seat.

"All set?" Dominique asked, looking around the cabin. Everything seemed in place. When Sheila and Willow nodded, she gave the pilot the go ahead, and the jet taxied onto the runway, taking off minutes later.

"Dru, I'm home!" Spike called as he entered the lair carrying Dawn in his arms. "And I brought you a gift!"

Drusilla clapped in childish glee and asked, "Prezzies? For me?"

"I got you that girl you wanted," Spike confirmed.

The insane vampire looked closely at Dawn and crooned, "Ooh! My little green girl is so beautiful! Mrs. Edith says the time is right for a little taste. Bring her here, my sweet William." The bleached blond vampire brought the youngest Summers over to his sire, gently placing her onto the floor next to Drusilla.

"What's this 'bout a taste?" William the Bloody asked, looking at the young girl eagerly.

"Just a nibble, Mrs. Edith says," the insane brunette replied. Taking a hold of one of Dawn's hands, Drusilla vamped out and stuck one finger into her mouth. A small bite and a few ounces of blood later, she pulled back and motioned Spike forward, saying, "Your turn; just a nibble, now, there's a good childe."

Spike grumbled but complied, following Drusilla's lead and drinking only the bare minimum of blood from Dawn's other hand. "Now what, love?" he asked, somewhat confused. Why go through all the trouble of kidnapping the girl if they were not even going to drain her?

Drusilla picked up a near by knife, useful for torturing random minions, and sliced her hand. "Now Mrs. Edith says we should feed our lovely green pet," she answered, while positioning Dawn so the blood could flow down her throat. Once she had finished force feeding Dawn a full cup of her blood, she turned back to Spike and urged, "Come, come, you mustn't let our pet go hungry." Taking the hint, Spike slashed his own palm open and allowed his blood to dribble down the still sleeping girl's throat. After about nine ounces of blood had flowed down Dawn's throat, Drusilla pushed his hand away, stating, "Our pet mustn't eat too much, or she'll get a tummy ache." She then rearranged the girl in what some would consider a comfortable sleeping position.

"What is that supposed to do to 'er?" Spike queried, looking at the two girls now occupying Drusilla's cushions.

Drusilla tilted her head to the side, listening to something only she could hear, and replied with a pout, "The stars are keeping their secrets, and Mrs. Edith won't tell me unless I give her cake." That said, she lay back on her cushions next to Dawn and pet her head like a cat, crooning, "Our little green pet is such a pretty girl, Daddy's going to be jealous."

The Nightstone Unlimited corporate jet landed in JFK International Airport with no problems. Security was surprisingly lax while Dominique Destine and Sheila and Willow Rosenberg made their way through the airport terminal and out to the limousine waiting outside for them. The attention diverting charms Dominique had used on all of their luggage may or may not have contributed to this. That said, neither Willow nor Sheila were complaining. It would have been awkward at the very best to explain why three women, one underage, were carrying swords, wooden stakes, and other vampire hunting paraphernalia.

Dominique looked at her watch and said, "That took slightly longer than I expected. As it stands, we should have enough time for the two of you to get settled and a nice dinner before we'll need to get ready to go tonight. While you unpack your things, I'll call Xanatos and arrange the meeting for tonight."

"What can we expect?" Sheila asked anxiously. "I mean, how are they going to react to meeting us?"

Dominique sighed and replied, "They'll all be suspicious, at least at first. Angela and Broadway will probably be the first to accept you, considering that Angela is my daughter and might still want to trust me. Brooklyn will most likely be openly hostile. I've betrayed his trust before, and he's holding a grudge. Goliath will try to separate Willow from me to protect her. Hudson will recognize her fighting spirit, and may even help you in your training, the others will probably be suspicious, but you should be able to win them over."

"That's good, I guess," Willow said. "So, what are our plans for dinner?"

"Considering the way the Clan eats, and that they'll be waking up shortly before we arrive," Dominique began, "I thought we could have something small to tide us over until we get past the initial meeting. Even if all they want to do is coerce you away from me, they'll still offer us food. How does pizza sound?"

"That's fine," Sheila agreed as Willow nodded her consent.

"Call for you, sir," the blond secretary calmly informed his employer. "It is Mrs. Destine."

"Thank you, Owen," David Xanatos replied. "I'll take it now."

"Of course, sir."

Picking up the phone, the brown haired millionaire cheerfully greeted his caller, "Hello, Demona, what can I do for you?"

"You can call me Dominique during the day to start."

"But where would be the fun in that?" Xanatos asked.

The growl that came through the phone in response lacked a certain flair, mostly due to Dominique's currently human vocal chords. "I need you to set up a meeting tonight," she finally replied.

"And why would I do that?" Xanatos was having fun; baiting his rivals was always a joy.

"I have some news that involves the Clan. I'd rather inform them of the circumstances before they get more suspicions than usual."

"An admirable goal, I'm sure," Xanatos quipped. "Though I don't quite see why I should set up a meeting."

"Fine, I'll tell you," Dominique relented, growing frustrated. For someone as old as she was, her patience was rather lacking. "I am planning on adopting a girl and possibly claim her as my own."

"Oh?"

"I will be bringing her and her mother over tonight to meet the Clan."

"You never seemed the sort to help someone out of the goodness of your heart like this," Xanatos commented.

"We will be there an hour after sunset. Is that acceptable?" Dominique asked, ignoring the comment entirely.

"I suppose it will be," Xanatos drawled. "If that is all, there are a few preparations I'll have to make. Have a good evening." Placing the telephone back in its cradle, he turned to his assistant and said, "Owen, call Officer Maza. I'm sure she'll want to be present at tonight's meeting."

"Of course, sir. Shall I prepare special refreshments as well?" Owen Burnett asked in his usual monotone.

"Yes, thank you, Owen. This should be an interesting night, if nothing else."

"Indeed, sir."

In the library of Sunnydale High School, books never opened by the majority of students were spread across the table, being poured over by one teenage male, one teenage slayer, a computer teacher, and a school librarian. They had been working since school ended that day, trying to determine what ritual Spike was planning on performing. Unfortunately, the only clues they had so far were that the DuLuc Cross had been stolen from his crypt.

"Can I take the night off?" Buffy asked as she looked up from her fourteenth book. "I'm going to need to fight whatever this is, so I need to be well rested, right?" she reasoned.

Giles rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, "I suppose, Buffy. We'll call Willow and ask her to help us from New York. Go and rest." Buffy nodded her thanks and ran off, eager to begin her date with Angel. When she reached her house, she was inside just long enough to get her skates, not remembering that she was supposed to be watching her sister that night or that no one else was in the house.

"You know she's not really going to rest, right, G-man?" Xander asked after Buffy had left.

"I know, but I can't do much to stop her," Giles replied. "And don't call me that."

"Since Buffy's pretty much gone AWOL, and Willow's in New York," Jenny Calendar began, "We should probably keep looking."

--

In the Sunnydale Airport, a slim figure slipped out of a plane's cargo hold and away into the shadows.

At the town line, a bus stopped and a burly figure stepped out.

"Would you like to see our free samples?" a door-to-door salesman asked. He was invited in by the cheerful housewife. Seconds after the door swung closed, screaming began.

The Order of Taraka had arrived.

--

Elisa Maza and David Xanatos watched as the sun set. Unlike most, they were not watching the sun. No, they were watching a group of statues standing on the castle parapets. To make the scene even more surreal, the castle in question was perched securely on top of a skyscraper in Manhattan. As the sun sank below the western horizon, cracking was heard, centering on the statues. Soon, each of the statues was covered in cracks. With a mighty roar, the gargoyles stretched, throwing off their stone skin.

"Elisa," the largest gargoyle, Goliath greeted. "It is good to see you." He walked over to the police officer and pulled her into a hug, wrapping his wings around her. "I wasn't expecting you over until after midnight."

"It's good to see you, too, big guy," Elisa laughingly replied. Turning to the owner of the building, she asked, "So, why did you want me here early?"

"It seems," Xanatos began dramatically, "That Demona is up to something new."

"What?" Brooklyn demanded, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Do you know what she's planning?" Elisa asked, marginally politer than the red gargoyle.

"She actually called me earlier today," Xanatos explained. "She's apparently chosen to adopt a human girl." Savoring the looks of disbelief the others were sporting, he continued, "She's bringing both the girl and her mother over in about an hour."

"Mother's coming here?" Angela asked excitedly. "And with a human? Maybe she's beginning to change!"

"Yeah," Brooklyn scoffed, "and I'm a monkey's uncle."

"That can be arranged," Owen stated as he stepped out of the shadows. "The refreshments have been prepared, Alex is safely asleep, and your wife is getting ready to receive guests."

"Thank you, Owen. Out of curiosity, which manner of guests is Fox preparing for?"

"Both, I believe, sir," the blond replied, adjusting his glasses.

"This should prove an interesting meeting," Hudson stated. "I'll be inside watching television. Call me when the lass arrives." He shambled to the door and disappeared inside, heeding the call of the boob tube.

"Do we know anything about the girl Demona's bringing?" Lexington asked. "If we have a name, I can look up her information. Maybe we can find out what her plan is."

"Ah, yes. I suppose I should have asked for the girl's name," Xanatos admitted. "I suppose we'll just have to wait."

"So it seems," Goliath agreed.

"I think I see Demona!" Broadway called out from his perch on the wall. "It looks like she's carrying someone!"

"She's here early," Elisa commented.

"That she is," Xanatos agreed. "Owen, please inform Fox that our guests are here earlier than expected."

"Certainly, sir." Owen disappeared into the shadows to carry out his task.

"Mother! It's good to see you," Angela called Demona came in for a landing.

"Angela, it's good to see you again, as well," Demona replied as she set Sheila down on her feet. Walking over to her daughter, she pulled her into a warm embrace, whispering into Angela's ear, "I'm sorry for how horrible a mother I've been. I hope we can start over." Angela returned her mother's hug with an even tighter embrace, too caught up in her emotions to speak.

"Greetings, I am Goliath," the large, purple gargoyle stated to Sheila. "And you are?"

"Hello, Goliath," Sheila replied with a smile. "I'm Sheila Rosenberg. Demona is planning on adopting my daughter, Willow, but we've managed to settle on joint custody." Before heading to the meeting, it had been decided to explain as much of the situation as they could before introducing Wisp.

"I'm David Xanatos," Xanatos said with a smile. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you allowing an adoption at all?"

Sheila flushed in embarrassment and answered, "Ira and I don't have much of a choice, I'm afraid. We weren't the best parents, and if she wanted to, Demona could have us charged with negligent child abuse. And since Demona can prove that she's Willow's biological mother, joint custody was better than the alternative."

"How can Demona be a human's mother?" Lexington asked.

"There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for that," Sheila answered. "Magic."

"So Demona would use magic to alter the test results?" Lexington ventured.

"Of course not," Sheila laughed. "Willow and Demona share enough traits that no one would deny their relationship. Besides, the magic changed my daughter's DNA, so it is partially the same as Demona's."

"You do mean Demona's human form, right?" Elisa asked. "I mean, she can't be half gargoyle, right?" After a moment, she turned on Demona and demanded, "And where is Willow? You didn't make her walk her, did you?"

"Why would I make her walk?" Demona asked in return, a smirk gracing her lips. Sheila tried to hide her own mischievous grin as well.

"Then why haven't you left to go get her?" Fox asked as she walked up to the group and gave her husband a kiss. "I'm Fox Xanatos, by the way," she added for Sheila's benefit.

"What," Demona demanded, "do you want me to do? Hold her hand like some youngling? She's a big girl. She can glide for herself."

Before anyone could react to Demona's strange assertion, Wisp made her appearance. Rather than spiraling down from above, she rose vertically over the edge of the castle, propelled by her massive wings. The other gargoyles, with the exception of Demona, stared in shock, as the stunt should have been impossible. The young, blue shaded gargoyle landed in the middle of the courtyard and gave a little wave, saying, "Hi, I'm Willow Rosenberg, but you can call me Wisp right now."

"What is the meaning of this?" Goliath demanded as soon as he recovered from his surprise.

Wisp shrugged and replied, "We thought it'd be fun to introduce you guys to me this way." Looking around, she saw a purple gargoyle that looked strikingly like Demona. Hopping over to her, she gave the unsuspecting Angela a surprise hug and began to babble, "Hi, you must be Angela; I'm Willow Wisp, soon to be your new sister; I think we should go and do some sibling bondage type things." Both Demona and Sheila choked once they had deciphered the Willow-babble.

"Wisp," Demona chided with a smirk after regaining her breath, "Freud called. Your slip is showing."

Xanatos smirked and called out, "Hey, you two, incest is best, but keep it in the family!" He was summarily hit on the back of the head by his wife.

"Hey," Lexington exclaimed, "Incest is best, put your sister to the test." It just goes to show that the Internet is a corrupting influence. At the disgusted glares of the others, the olive gargoyle slunk off into the shadows.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Wisp protested. "I meant we should get to know each other better, not do any kinky lesbian incestuous stuff! And, and... I blame Siegfried!"

"Huh?" Broadway asked, scratching his head. "What just happened?"

"Moving on," Angela said, trying to leave the embarrassing encounter far behind. "I'd love to get to know you better, Wisp. But first, I was wondering, where are you from? I've never seen a gargoyle that looked like you before. I mean, you look a lot like Mom and I, but some things just look out of place."

Before Wisp could comment, Goliath stepped towards Demona, having finally recovered from the series of shocks and, eyes flashing white in anger, roared, "What sorcery is this? What did you do to this child, Demona?"

"This isn't Màthair's fault!" Wisp protested, dropping to all fours to more quickly cross the distance between her and the group. Positioning herself between Goliath and Demona, she continued, "Demona didn't cause this! A Chaos mage invoked Janus to turn people into their costumes. Demona is just as much a victim in this as I am. Just the fact that she's giving my parents a choice should be enough to prove that." She spread her wings, trying to make herself more intimidating, a hard task for someone as short as she. Unnoticed by everyone other than Demona and Sheila, Wisp's tail blades were open, in what was a similar reaction to a cat's tail bristling.

Goliath was somewhat impressed, despite himself. Wisp's wings were even larger than Broadway's, who had the largest in the Clan. Despite her small size, she could glare with the best. Unfortunately, Goliath did not scare easily. As such, he soothingly continued, "Even if this is not Demona's fault, as you claim, child, you are not a true gargoyle."

Wisp's eyes filled with despair, and she whipped around, her tail slicing through Goliath's cheek with out her noticing, running to the edge of building and launching herself into the night sky. "You bastard!" Demona snarled, eyes glowing red. "She came here to meet you, to gain your acceptance, and how do you repay her? You deny her very existence!" Turning her back on the purple gargoyle, she added, "I'm going to find her before she goes and does something she regrets." Taking a running dive off of the castle she glided after the young person she was already beginning to see as her daughter.

"How could you say that?" Sheila demanded, pounding her fist against Goliath's arm. "Who are you to say she's not a gargoyle?"

Goliath looked down at the human pounding on his arm, surprised that she seemed to agree with Demona. In lieu of an apology, he turned to the trio and ordered, "Brooklyn, Lexington, Broadway. Follow the girl and make sure she comes to no harm. Otherwise do not interfere." The three gargoyles nodded and began tailing the blue gargoyles, trying to keep them in sight.

"I cannot believe you, Father," Angela stated, before turning and stalking to the edge of the building.

"Angela!" Goliath yelled as he started towards his daughter. Ignoring his plea, the young gargoyle jumped off the building, winging her way across the city after the others.


	5. Demonic Blender

Thanks go to Weebee for acting as the beta and sounding board for this chapter. And for providing the title.

Chapter 5

Demonic Blender

Wisp furiously flapped her way across the city, quickly leaving her pursuers behind. While she managed to gain ground, she slowed down once the castle faded into the distance, which allowed the others to keep her in sight. Of course, once she was free to think a little, she realized that she had no idea where to go to blow off some steam. The only two places she knew were Demona's estate and Xanatos' building. She needed to find a place where mindless destruction would not be frowned upon overly much. Someplace where her current destructive urges could be put to constructive uses. Someplace like that condemned building down there. Wait… condemned building… Wisp began spiraling down.

One advantage to her unique wing structure was that she could effectively control the surface area of her wings, allowing her to go into a controlled dive. Twenty feet above the surface, she flared her wings in a powerful down sweep, arresting her motion completely mere feet above the ground. Dropping the remaining distance, she landed in a crouch and folded her wings back. The most inconvenient part of having wings as long as hers was that, where most gargoyles could manage a cloak effect, her wings were too rigid and long to pull the effect off without the result looking very bulky.

Making her way into the building, Wisp grinned. This building was not just condemned, it was also a nest. Nothing relieves stress quite like killing a large number of vampires. And as an added plus, it made the world a slightly safer place. The further she stalked into the building, the more feral her grin became. Now, all she had to do was find the vamps, and any 'food' they hadn't killed yet. Well, she wouldn't be able to play bait in this form, so that just left hunting.

Wisp made her way through the building, slashing apart walls with her wings and striking out at random pieces of any remaining furniture, leaving much kindling in her wake. Most of the vampires she came across didn't get the chance to see her before they were dust in the wind. Of those that did see her, many thought she was a demon, as she had much more demonic features than the Manhattan clan. These fools often tried to reason with her and offered her whichever of the victims Wisp wanted. Vampires that fell into this category had much longer and more painful deaths.

The final group of vampires recognized Wisp for what she was, a Gargoyle designed specifically to kill. A true predator that left them with two choices, fight or flight. Several of those who immediately fled survived, if only because their less cowardly and/or intelligent brethren slowed Wisp down enough to prevent her from hunting them down. One of the fighters even got in a lucky shot, getting through her nonexistent defenses to stab her in the heart. Luckily for Wisp, the sub-dermal plating did what it was meant to do and stopped the blade from penetrating to anything important.

In the three seconds the vampire had left, he decided, in retrospect, that pissing off someone who had blades along her twelve foot wings was not at all a good idea. Wisp folded one wing against her back, extended her other wing and pivoted in place, in the center of the room, quickly and repeatedly. In essence, the entire room became one large blender. The walls were destroyed to such an extent that only the superstructure of the building kept the ceiling from caving in. Considering that this was a condemned building, there was no guarantee how long that would last.

--

Back at the Eyrie Building, Goliath was having significantly less fun than Wisp was, even taking her wound into account. Sheila, Fox, and even Eliza were surrounding him, glaring at him with all their power. While he would never admit it, that Sheila woman hit harder than he thought she could, and, by hitting the same spot repeatedly, she had managed to make it actually sting a little. "What is wrong with you?" Goliath demanded gruffly. "A little girl like her has no conception of what it means to be a Gargoyle, even if she does have the right body."

"And just what does it mean to be a Gargoyle?" Sheila demanded.

Before Goliath could muck things up even worse, Eliza summarized, "Gargoyles protect. Demona may be good now, I'm not going to believe that she's turned good without proof, but, even when she was evil, she always tried to protect, even if what she was protecting changed."

"Gargoyle's protect, huh?" Sheila asked, giving Goliath another hard look. "If that's the case, then Wisp is most definitely a Gargoyle."

"What do you mean by that?" Fox asked. Even if she wanted to go find her power armor and smack Goliath around a bit, this was quite an interesting development.

"I'm ashamed to say that I never noticed it until after Demona came, threatening to take Willow away from me, but Sunnydale is not safe," Sheila began. "You saw her, so I'm sure you noticed how different she is from the rest of you. Mr. Insensitive here got a first hand demonstration. Oh, and that wasn't intentional; Willow's never been the violent type."

Goliath stared at Sheila incredulously. "Not violent?" he demanded. "I say something she doesn't like, and she slices my cheek open. How is that not violent?"

"It was you're cheek," Fox pointed out with a vicious grin. "She could have aimed lower. I would have."

"I don't think she even noticed she did it," Eliza commented. "If she had meant it, Demona would have had something to say about it, if only to gloat."

"Of course she didn't mean to do it," Sheila reasserted. "She's only been a gargoyle since Halloween. She hasn't completely gotten used to her body yet. Now, as I was saying, Sunnydale is much more dangerous than you'd think, so Wisp is obviously built to better protect it."

"So she is built to protect. That does not mean she knows what it means to protect," Goliath stubbornly maintained.

"No," Sheila agreed. "But working to protect people for nearly a year while merely human does."

"So she was a vigilante," Eliza stated. "She should have left fighting crime to the police."

"Trust me, the police would not be able to handle what my daughter has fought," Sheila said proudly. "You might be able to handle it, considering we're having this conversation at all, but I can't see most police officers dealing well with the supernatural."

Recalling her experiences with the Mists of Avalon, Eliza had to agree, at least in part. "And how did Willow become involved with the supernatural?" she asked. She felt it would be best to get the entire story before coming to any conclusions about Wisp and this situation.

"Well, Sunnydale is what is known as a Hellmouth."

Nearby, Owen was discretely observing the conversation. At the mention of the Hellmouth, he said, "Your daughter grew up on a Hellmouth? She must be far more resilient than most."

Xanatos quirked an eyebrow at that. "You know what a Hellmouth is, Owen?"

"Yes," Owen replied. "Among other things it is a place you will never bring young Alex. It is a weak point in reality where malevolent energies gather and, if conditions are right, can connect this world with one that can only be described as a hell. Many demons are drawn to and choose to reside in such locations."

"So this Wisp is some form of demon," Goliath growled. "Only Demona would try to trick us into accepting a demon as one of our own." He was completely surprised when he was slapped across the cheek, hard, right over the cut Wisp had given him.

"How dare you call my daughter a demon?!" Sheila was truly furious. This gargoyle had rejected her daughter when she came to meet the clan for no true reason, and now he was calling her little girl a demon. Only a demon would not find that offensive.

Goliath reared back from the blow, more from surprise than from actual pain, though that slap was rather painful. Obviously, Demona had brainwashed the poor woman. Why else would she allow what was so obviously a demon to masquerade as her daughter? He would have to do something to help her escape from Demona's clutches.

Owen straightened his glasses and said, "She is not a demon. If she were, she would have been removed already."

"Thank you, Owen," Xanatos said. "It is very reassuring to know how seriously you take my son's safety." Turning to Goliath, he said, "I'm sure you can trust that Owen wouldn't do anything that might hurt Alex, even if you won't trust anything else." With a smirk, he added, "And, despite how humorous it may be, watching you getting beaten by Mrs. Rosenberg is a tad embarrassing. To think of all the trouble you've caused me in the past, and here you are, being laid low by an angry mother."

"Goliath," Eliza sighed, "you really need to think things through, especially where magic is concerned. Just because she lives on the mouth of Hell does not mean she's evil. And even if she is a demon, we've dealt with enough of Oberon's children to know that they can be both good and evil." As an afterthought, she added, "Or just mischievous. Damn Coyote."

"Now, as I was saying," Sheila said, to bring the conversation back on track, "It all started when this Bunny girl moved to Sunnydale. She is some type of mystical warrior that her sister referred to as a Slayer. Apparently these girls are chosen to fight against demons, without any real help, until they die. I think the average life expectancy is around two years or so."

"Who would send girls to fight like that without the proper support?" Fox demanded, angrily. Even if she had been fighting with the Pack from a relatively young age, they were always there to support each other. To have girls fighting even worse odds without even that was ludicrous.

"There is a group in England called the Watcher's Council that is supposed to guide and train the Slayer. Bunny's is the school librarian," Sheila explained. "According to Willow, he tried to keep her and Xander away until he realized it was futile. Anyways, Willow and Xander couldn't let Bunny fight alone, so they helped where they could, including being on site when the Hellmouth opened."

"As we are all here, I believe we can assume that it was closed," Owen dryly commented.

"Yes, they did manage to close it, but Willow and Demona agree that this is probably what caused such a radical change in Wisp's form."

"Yes, I suppose the power output of a transdimensional tear would be impressive, especially when added to the energy that probably saturates the area already," Xanatos commented. "It's not all that surprising that it changed her form from a Scottish Gargoyle into what she is now."

"If I had to fight anything as a gargoyle, I'd much rather have Wisp's general body shape than one of your clan, Goliath," Fox added. "Regardless of what she's fighting, she'd do better than you."

"I'm not sure how well Wisp can fight," Sheila admitted. "At least not against anything she can't kill in one hit or something that can avoid her blades. That's part of why we're here; Demona mentioned that your clan, and specifically a gargoyle named Hudson, could help her train properly."

"Ah, yes, Hudson," Xanatos cut in before Goliath came up with more ways to shoot himself in the foot. "He wanted to be called when you arrived with Demona and Wisp. Owen, why don't you go fetch him. I'm sure he'll be disappointed that he missed her."

"Yes sir," Owen said as he politely dismissed himself.

--

Through a combination of strange luck, a fire trapping a number of children on the roof of a building, and Macbeth trying to kill Demona yet again, Angela was the first to find Wisp, who was sitting on the roof of a very dilapidated building. "Hey, Wisp." Once Wisp acknowledged her presence, Angela asked, "Are you alright?"

Wisp whipped around and harshly demanded, "Do you think I'm alright? Goliath just said that half of what I am isn't real! How would you feel if he said a part of you doesn't exist?"

"It took over a month for us to get him to acknowledge me as his daughter," Angela said with a well deserved huff as she settled down next to Wisp. "And that was after we found out for sure."

"It took him a month?!" Willow exclaimed. "What's wrong with him?"

"He takes being a gargoyle very seriously," Angela began. "He said that hatchlings, like us, belonged to the entire clan, with the entire clan as parents. So, in his eyes, I was the Clan's daughter, not his."

"So he has his own ideas on how gargoyles should be and won't adapt," Wisp mused. "No wonder he and Màthair could never get along."

"Father can change," Angela asserted. "But it takes a lot to do it. It took Eliza's mother to get him to look at me as a daughter."

"So what will it take for him to see me as a gargoyle?" Wisp asked. "I've already saved the world!" At Angela's odd look, she sheepishly amended, "Well, I helped."

"That should do it," Angela admitted. The two sat in a companionable silence for a few minutes until Angela asked, "So, why were those people running out of here screaming?"

Wisp waved a hand dismissively and said, "Oh, they're the ones that got away. Màthair and I will hunt them down later."

Horror filled Angela's eyes as she stared at her sister. "I thought you and Mother were going to be good! You're even worse than she used to be!"

"What are you talking about?" Wisp asked, clearly confused.

"You monster! How could you hunt down all those people like that?! You're supposed to have been human!"

"What?" Wisp asked again, before everything sank in. "Oh! Those aren't people, they're vampires. Vampires kill people, so my friends and I kill them."

"And why do you get to decide that an entire race deserves to die?" Angela demanded. "How are you any better than the humans that think that all gargoyles should be killed?"

"Simple, people think we're evil, but we know vampires are," Wisp said. With a sigh, she slumped down. "Look, I know I'm not going to convince you right now, and you will never convince me, so let's just drop it for now, okay? I've got some stuff I need to show the Clan, and vampires are part of it. I don't want to ruin our relationship over something like this, especially when we're both right, given our world views." Standing up, she ruffled her wings a little before saying, "Come on, we might as well get back."

"Yes, I suppose that would be best," Angela agreed.

"Crap! I forgot the victims!" Wisp exclaimed, turning back to the roof access. "We can't just leave them here!"

"Victims?" Angela asked as she quickly followed her sister into the building. "What victims?"

--

In a deep, dark cavern, a man wearing a white collar struggled ineffectually against his bonds. "What do you people want from me?" When his blindfold was roughly removed, he had to wonder at the scene before him. On a raised slab, about waist height, there lay a girl, probably no older than ten, with a little bit of blood on the corner of her mouth. "Please tell me you're not a bunch of quacks trying to do a ritual from a White Wolf book," he pleaded. "It didn't work the last five times I've been kidnapped, and I doubt this'll be any different," he added.

"Well, Pops, you're in luck, then," Spike said, pushing the priest forward. "Don't have any books here. My Dru's making it up as she goes."

"That's even worse!" the priest complained. "And what are you trying to accomplish, bringing me down here to be sacrificed with this little girl?"

"Don't worry 'bout that," the blond vampire advised. "Dru said to not 'arm you, so you'll be free to go when we're done with you."

"And the girl?" the clergyman demanded.

Spike shrugged. "Not sure what'll 'appen to 'er," he admitted. "She'll still be alive, at least. I think. More than I can say for the 'bit's sister." Slicing through the priest's bindings with the nails of his right hand, the peroxide blond shoved him forward towards the table. "Now, Pops, all you've got to do is recite the prayer to that St. Michael bloke, and you'll get out of 'ere alive."

"Why do you need the 'Oratio ad Sanctum Michael?'" the priest asked, not seeing how a prayer to the patron saint of warriors would tie in with anything involving a young girl and a severely hypothermic man. The man should be unconscious by now at the very least.

"'Ell if I know." Pointing to the girl, he commanded, "Go start praying. I'll be over there, trying not to burn.."

"Fine," the priest sighed, making his way over to the girl. "Here's your prayer." Softly resting a hand on the girl's head, he intoned, "Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen."

"'Ey, mate, thanks," Spike said, walking back over to the priest, smoking slightly. On his way over, he flicked a switch, causing some overhead exit lights to turn on. "'Ere, follow those and you'll be right as rain, you will. I've got me some things to do now, so see yourself out, 'ear? And leave the nibblet. My Dru would not be 'appy if I 'ad to find 'er again." The priest shakily nodded, having not expected a bright green flash during the prayer, especially not with a queer undertone he couldn't describe and that reminded him of his foray into metaphysics before he joined the clergy, and slowly made his way out of the chamber, finding himself emerging in one of the cemeteries.

Down on the stone slab, Dawn slept.


End file.
